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Bicycle racing is one of the most popular sports in a number of European countries. The top countries in this sport are Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the United States and Switzerland (not necessarily in the order of interest).
Bicycle racing includes cyclo-cross, track cycling, orienteering, downhilling, offroad racing and road racing.
Road races can be categorized by length and type:
Length
- Single-day races: The competitor to cross the finish line first is declared the winner.
- Multi-stage races: Consists of several one-day races, often consecutively.
The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to complete all the stages is declared the overall, or General Classification (GC), winner. The three major and most minor stage races also have other categories of winners such as the stage winner, the points winner, and the "king of the mountains" winner.
Type
- Open road race: Generally going from point A to point B; can include multi-laps.
- Criterium: Generally a circuit race with multiple laps around a short, usually 4-cornered course; often includes primes (points for intermediate laps).
- Individual time trial: Every rider starts apart, and the rider with the fastest time wins.
- Team time trials: Riders start in groups or teams, usually of a fixed size. The time of the nth rider of a team counts for the classification.
Famous bicycle races
The most famous cycling race is the Tour de France, a multi-stage tour over three weeks through France, traditionally ending in Paris. Similar long multi-stage tours are held in Italy (the Giro d'Italia) and Spain (the Vuelta a España). These three races make up the "Grand Tours". The most important one-day races form the World Cup: Milan-San Remo (Italy), Tour of Flanders (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) and Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) in spring, Clasica San Sebastian (Spain), HEW-Cyclassics Cup (Germany), Championship of Zürich (Switzerland), Paris-Tours (France) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy) in autumn.
for a more extensive list see: List of important cycling events
Bicycle championships
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