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A Guide to Bike Racing for Beginners and Competitors

Today, bike racing or cycling is a popular sport as well as pastime. Bicycles are versatile because they can be used for sport, recreation or transport. Bicycles were introduced to people in the 19th century, yet in such a short amount of time, there are already 1 billion bicycles on the road all across the world. In fact, for many regions in the world—especially the destitute regions—they are the main form of transportation.

For professional cyclists or bike racers, a number of yearly tournaments exist where they can test their skills and see who’s the best among them. One of the most popular, if not the most popular, of all such tournaments is the Tour de France that is held each and every year in France. Beginning in 1903, the Tour de France is still big enough today to attract the attention of millions of people in France as well as around the world. The Tour de France is an example of a multi-day race, while there are also single day competitive bike races. A few, additional examples of multi-day races are Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana; a few examples of single-day big bike races are Milan – San Remo and Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Over the last decade or so, cycling or bike racing has become a lot more popular in the U.S., where it traditionally has not been popular for decades. Since about the 20th century, cycling has become something of a minority sport in the U.S., but up until then many major cities in the U.S. had velodromes. Lance Armstrong is credited with single-handedly raising the profile and, thus, the popularity of cycling in the U.S., having successfully rebounded from cancer and racking up seven Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005 despite being dogged by allegations of doping. Other famous cyclists—who each have only five Tour de France victories over their respective careers—include Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

There are a variety of different bike races in existence. Road races like the Tour de France are likely the most popular, while cyclo-cross races are popular among cyclists during their off-seasons. Mountain bike racing, on the other hand, is quite new, only gaining ground in the 1990s. Other kinds of bike races include BMX, track cycling, cycle speedway, bike trials and motor-paced racing.

Racing History and Basics

Types of Races

Tactics & Strategies

Equipment

Training

Racing Dos and Donts

Racing Safety

Additional Racing Resources