Bicycle road racing

Road bicycle racing

A breakaway of three riders during the women's road race at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Highest governing body	UCI
Characteristics
Contact	No, although bodies do touch
Team members	Individuals and teams
Mixed gender	Yes, separate competitions
Type	Cycle sport
Equipment	Road bicycle
Venue	Paved roads
Presence
Country or region	Worldwide
Olympic	Yes, men's since the 1896 Olympics and women's since the 1984 Olympics
Paralympic	Yes, men's and women's since the 1984 Paralympics

Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. Races can typically be split into mass start events where riders start simultaneously (though sometimes with a handicap), racing to set finish point, or individual and team time trials where riders or teams race a course individually against the clock.

Professional racing has been most popular in Western Europe, centered historically on France, Spain, Italy and the Low Countries. Since the mid-1980s the sport has diversified with professional races now held on all continents of the globe. Semi-professional and amateur races are also held in many countries. The sport is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). As well as the UCI's annual World Championships for men and women, the biggest event is the Tour de France, a three-week race that can attract over 500,000 roadside supporters a day.

Historically, the most competitive and devoted countries since the beginning of 20th century were Belgium, France and Italy, then road cycling spread in Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland after World War II. However nowadays as the sport grows in popularity through globalization, countries such as Kazakhstan, Australia, Venezuela, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland and the United States continue to produce world class cyclists.