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ROAD
RACING RULES
Road events
take place on paved roads. They can be urban or rural setting, or a
combination of both. The topography can range from flat to
mountainous, creating events with a wide variety of character. This
is classic bike racing and events are held on every continent.
ALL THESE ARE ENDURANCE EVENTS:
Ø
Criterium:
o
A criterium is essentially a short road race on a circuit that is
fully closed to traffic and usually technical in nature. The
course may vary from 800m to 1.5km in length with multiple laps
being contested to complete a race distance of around 30-40 minutes
at youth level and up to 1 hour 30 minutes at elite level. The
circuits are usually 'created' in parks or around town centres, but
other venues such as go-kart tracks and park and ride car parks are
often used for youth level competition.
Extract taken from the UCI Rules .. The maximum distance for the
race shall be set as follows:
Length of circuit/Maximum distance: 800 -
1599m: 80 km., 1600 - 2999m: 110 km., 3000 - 3999m: 132 km & 4000 -
10 000m: 150 km
The racing is fast and furious, requiring excellent bike handling
skills as the courses are generally quite flat and often narrow with
tight corners. The mass start, high-speed cornering and
sprinting make criterium exciting for participants and spectators
alike. As with road racing, the tactics are varied depending on the
strengths of the different competitors, but the nature of the event
tends to favour the faster, more powerful athlete over the time
trial specialist or strong climbers.
Because the criterium pass the same point each lap, they are better
spectator events than road races. Although often referred to
as 'road races' the majority of youth competition throughout the UK
takes the form of a cirterium as the courses and venues are traffic
free, short and ideally suited to the younger riders entering the
sport. The winner is the first one to cross the line.
Ø
Time Trials:
o
A time trial is an individual or team race over a fixed distance
against the clock. Riders start individually at timed intervals
(usually one minute) and the rider completing the course with the
fastest time wins. Distances raced vary from 1 mile to 100 miles but
most common distances are up to 25 miles for elite athletes and 10
miles for youth competitors. The course may be from point to point,
from town to town, or on a circuit (the start and finish are in the
same place.) The course is closed to traffic in the area of the
race.
Ø
Road Race:
o
These are mass-start events with anything from twenty to two hundred
athletes competing and are held on open roads or tarmac circuits.
Racers ride in groups or ‘pelotons’, corner at high speeds, take
turns ‘pulling’ at the front of pace lines, and pick tactical spots
to try to break away. The first rider across the finish line
is the winner.
The course may be from point to point, from town to town, or on a
circuit (the start and finish are in the same place.)
Usually the course is closed to traffic in the area of the race.
The majority of adult races takes place on public highways, thought
there are an increasing number of closed circuit events, whether
within parks or similar facilities where traffic free roads are
available or on a specially constructed circuit which are shared
with other sports like motor racing and kart racing. The
majority of youth racing takes place on traffic-free closed racing.
Road races can be up to a couple hundred kilometres long (over 100
miles.) In the UK events range from short youth races of 16 -
20kms through to local and regional level events for adults of
between 40kms and 100kms culminating in elite level events of one
day races of 200kms or more.
The classic road race is a test of stamina, fitness plus tactical
acumen (and team tactics) often come into play. riders often
have particular strengths, some can climb hills and mountains
quickly, some have a devastating turn of speed or sprint.
Others have the ability to ride very well against the clock using a
'time trial' technicque.
There are many tactical strategies used in road racing and a rider
who is good enough at time trialling will look to breakaway from the
pack on their own or with a small number of other riders. In
contrast the sprinters will aim to stay firmly in the centre of the
pack and wait until the very end to play their hand and cross the
line first. For the climbers, they will potentially break up
the race on the climb, something they are keen on doing and as the
final climb tends to be close to the finish that is when they will
attack.
Ø
Hill Climb:
o
During a hill climb, riders race towards a finish line that is
higher than the starting line. These events may be individual (time
trial) or mass start.
Ø
Stage Race:
o
A stage race is a combination of some or all of the road events;
road race, criterium, and time trial. They are held over two to
fourteen days. Each cyclist’s time for all the individual events is
totalled and the overall winner is the rider with the lowest
cumulative time. There are also winners for each individual event
and sometimes for groups of events. These are particular popular in
Europe (i.e. Tour de France) and Africa (i.e. Tour de Faso, Tour de
Senegal).
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ROAD RACING RULES from Scottish
Cycling for their series in the year 2009 are available
here:
Websites that can be used as a reference
for other cycling disciplines other than track cycling:-
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Advice on
training for Cycle Time Trials at
http://www.timetrialtraining.co.uk/S1startingnotes.htm
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Advice on
different bikes from Why Cycle at
http://www.whycycle.co.uk/bike_styles/road_racing_bikes/
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Training
information for cyclists, cycling equipment reviews and how to
get started at
http://www.road-bike.co.uk/
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Touring and
Racing cyclists advice at
http://www.cobr.co.uk/e-cobr_information/t_and_r_section/introduction.shtml
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