The Tour de France might have the most visibility—even non-cyclists are familiar with the legendary summertime bike event. But it isn't the only exciting race of the year.
Bike racing in the spring can be just as thrilling as it is in July. And while the Tour de France takes nearly three weeks to complete, these single-day events don't require nearly as much time on the couch—which means you can spend more time on the bike.
Known as the "Five Monuments of Cycling", these pro races are exciting, motivating, full of history and offer plenty of lessons that you can apply to your own cycling, no matter what you're trying to accomplish.
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This is a race between Milan and San Remo in Italy since 1907. Of all one-day races, it's the longest at 298 km. Because the race takes place in March (the first classic of the season), the length and early date on the cycling calendar make this an interesting test of early-season fitness.
The Poggio and the Cipressa are classic climbs of the race, though the finish usually comes down to a sprint. This can be misleading because the fastest sprinters in the world aren't always around by the end of the race. Instead, the winner is often decided by who has the most will and determination for one last surge to the line at the end of a long, grueling day on the bike.
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The Ronde van Vlaanderen, as it's known in Dutch, is a Flanders classic held in Belgium. The race usually takes place during the first Sunday of April, the weekend before another classic, Paris Roubaix.
The course, known for the cobbled roads built in the aftermath of post-war Belgium, exposes riders to extreme conditions. Climbs like the Koppenberg are steep and winding. And because of their short distance, the course lends itself well to strong, all-around cyclists like Fabian Cancellara and Tom Bonnen, each three-time winners of the race.
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Perhaps the most rugged of the classics races, Paris Roubaix is all about the pav? (pah-vay). Riders traverse the 27 sections of legendary cobblestones from North Paris to Roubaix the weekend after Flanders. But the two races should not be confused just because they are both cobbled classics-they are each entirely different races.
American pro cyclist Chris Horner described it like this: "There's a huge difference between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. They're not even close. In one, the cobbles are used every day by the cars, and kept up. The other one—it's completely different. The best I could do would be to describe it like this--they plowed a dirt road, flew over it with a helicopter, and then just dropped a bunch of rocks. That's Paris-Roubaix. It's that bad."
But it does make for an exciting race, one where the toughest man always wins.
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The first edition of this race was held in 1892, making this Belgium race the oldest of any of the classics. Today, the race usually takes place in late April, before the grand tours begin.
Over the years the race has become well-known for it's treacherous weather conditions--so bad in fact that commentators sometimes refer to the race as Neige-Bastogne-Neige (Snow-Bastogne-Snow).
The route is straightforward, starting and ending in Liege. It's littered with climbs to give plenty of riders the opportunity to attack. This unpredictability lends itself well to aggressive riding, and the big names don't always factor into the results. This makes for an enjoyable race, and one that's difficult to predict.
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Held in Lombardy, Italy, this is the last "Monument" of the year. The first race was held in 1905, and the rider with the most victories is the legendary Fausto Coppi, a five-time winner.
The route has changed many times over the years, but Como Lake and the Ghissalo climb remain fixtures. The Villa Vergano climb is the decisive point in the race, and though it's only 3.4 km in length, it's steep. With only 3 km of downhill following this brutal ascent, the winner of the race is usually determined by who reaches the top of the Vergano first. This means it's an all out war between the climbers.
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