The first recognised bicycle race was held in France in 1868 and has since evolved to become a popular form of competition and includes road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX racing and bike trials.

Road bicycle racing is by far the most popular of the racing types and includes the famous Tour de France. This cycling race began in 1903 and is the world’s largest cycling race held over 23 days. The total route is over 3,000 km and traces a circuit around most areas of France. This type of race is known as a ‘Grand Tour’ stage race and other famous ones include the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. Single day races are known as ‘classics’ and examples are the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Milan-Sanremo.
Typically racing takes place from spring to autumn for the optimum weather of conditions.

Competing in these races does not just involve a rider. It involves a small team and a lot of equipment. You will have a mechanical expert, a coach and a follower in a car or van carrying spare parts and spare bikes. It isn't a cheap sport if you want to be at the top. Savings can be made by buying the bike in bits and putting it together yourself or getting a good condition second hand frame get a friend to coach you and drive you on, get them to be your follow driver, search for cheap bike insurance and compare car insurance prices here to reduce your costs. Also bike helmets are they worth spending lots of money on A helmet saved my life.

Other races include Cyclo-cross which is a variation of road racers held off season in the cold months and consist of laps of a 2-3 km course. Mountain bike racing is a much newer event originating in the 1990’s. Track cycling is held inside velodromes and involves lap cycling.  This type of racing is varied and can involve sprint, long distance and team races. BMX racing is an off road sport and are sprints involving jumps and banked corners.