British Cycling

Your links to the world of Road Racing
>> Intro: New to the sport? Find out what it's all about.
>> Calendar: >>>>
>> Results: On this page you will find a list of links to the pages containing results thoughtout the year for road racing and other cycling events.
>> 2004 Rankings: Compiled from the latest results received. Please check the Road results received page before making a rankings enquiry.
>>Entry forms : Click to display an index for available entry forms.

Road Racing Rules (Word file download) >>>>

This Is Road Racing!

The open road, a smell of hot tarmac, an expectant crowd, the hum of tyres and the whirring of gears - this is road racing! One for the Road! Road Racing�s territory is the open road. Events range from short Junior races of an hour or less, through one day classics of over 250km like Paris-Roubaix, to the Tour de France which hurtles round 3,500km of the flatlands and mountains of France for three weeks every summer. In the shorter races the first rider over the line is the winner, but in multi-stage �Tours� there are prizes for each stage winner, for the best sprinter in the race, the best climber (aka King of the Mountains), the leading team and, of course, the overall winner.

Racing Qualities - Endurance, Sprinting, Climbing
Top Road racers need to be able to stay in the saddle for hours at a time (endurance), to accelerate to speeds of up to 50mph (sprint) and climb mountain passes up to almost 10,000 feet.

How to get involved
As with all sports, Road Racing beginners can find their feet in easier events. Under sixteens ride on what are called closed road circuits � they are courses off the public roads where they can race safely and learn the many tactical skills which make Road Racing so exciting. British cycling run events of this kind all round the country during the summer months.

Road Facts

Road Racing�s four biggest events are the Tour de France, Giro D�Italia and Vuelta A Espana, and the World Championships.
In 2000 and 2001 Britain�s Nicole Cooke became the first rider to win back-to-back junior women�s world titles in Road Racing. And for good measure she also won the Mountain bike and Time Trial titles in 2001, making her a triple world champion in one year. Since then she has progressed to dominate the Women's World Cup and was the 2003 Champion.
Lance Armstrong of the USA is currently the most famous Road Racer in the world. Cancer almost killed him in the mid nineties, but Lance battled back to fitness and amazingly won the Tour de France on his return to the sport.

So that�s road Racing - there�s no better feeling than skimming over the tarmac, whether it�s an evening club ride with your mates, or in the cut and thrust of a race.

� British Cycling 2002/2003