Road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing

A breakaway of riders during the 2021 Giro d'Italia
Highest governing body	UCI
Characteristics
Contact	No, although bodies do touch
Team members	Individuals and teams
Mixed-sex	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
World Championships	Yes
Paralympic	Yes, men's and women's since the 1984 Paralympics

Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously (though sometimes with a handicap) and race to a set finish point; and time trials, where individual riders or teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively.

Professional racing originated in Western Europe, centred in France, Spain, Italy and the Low Countries. Since the mid-1980s, the sport has diversified, with races held at the professional, semi-professional and amateur levels, worldwide. 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.