Cycling
Competitive cycling in Ireland, which incidentally is very popular, is run by cyclingireland as the national Governing Body on behalf of the Irish Sports Council. There are over 250 clubs in the country catering for all needs including road racing, track racing and of course Mountain Biking. Throughout the season which runs from March to September there are races nearly every weekend and they are all categorized according to ability.
Outside Ireland the sport of road racing in particular is extremely popular and France, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Italy are particularly active. Probably the best known road race in the world is the annual Tour de France which has expanded its borders and now even has sections in the UK. The first race was run in 1903 but at that time there were only 6 stages compared to today’s 20 and one prologue. Some stages were run at night and control was very difficult so cheating was rife with competitors accused of using a car or even the railway. The first winner of the competition was Maurice Garin who was of course from France; it was not until 1909 that a foreigner won the event and that was François Faber who came from Luxembourg. Apart from the 11 years of the two world wars the race has been run every year since. There have some who have become very famous from the event but in recent times the most famous is the American Lance Armstrong who managed to win for 7 years in succession from 1999 to 2006. The 2010 version will cover 3600 kilometres in 3 weeks (in 1926 the race covered 5745 kilometres) and the winner last year received €450,000 plus some winnings from stages at €8000 each. As a gambling opportunity there are plenty of bets available as there are indeed on many of the events. The other two big events in the cycling calendar are the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.
Here are the top International Cycling events for 2010:-
January 19th-2th:- Tour Down Under (Australia)
March 7th-14th:- Paris-Nice (France)
March 10th-16th:- Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)
March 20th:- Milan –Sanremo (Italy)
March22nd-28th:- Tour of Catalunya (Spain)
March 28th:- Ghent – Wevelgem (Belgium)
April 4th:- Tour of Flanders (Belgium)
April 5th-10th:- Tour of the Basque Country (Spain)
April 11th:- Paris – Roubaix (France)
April 18th:- Amstel Gold Race (Holland)
April 21st:- La Flèche Wallonne (Belgium)
April 25th:- Liège – Bastogne – Liège (Belgium)
April 27th – May 2nd:- Tour of Romandy (Switzerland)
May 5th – 9th:- Dunkirk Four Day Race (France)
May 8th – 30th:- Giro d’Italia (Italy)
May 16th – 23rd:- Tour of California
June 6th – 13th:- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (France)
June 12th – 20th :- Tour of Switzerland
July 3rd – 25th:- Tour de France
July 31st:- San Sebastian Classic (Spain)
August 1st – 7th:- Tour of Poland
August 15th:- Vattenfall Cyclassics (Germany)
August 17th – 24th:- Eneco Tour of Benelux
August 22nd:- GP Ouest France – Plouay
August 28th – September 19th:- Vuelta a España
September 10th:- Quebec Grand Prix (Canada)
September 11th – 18th:- Tour of Britain
September 12th:- Montreal Grand Prix (Canada)
September 29th – October 3rd:- Road World Championships (Australia)
October 10th:- Paris – Tours (France)
October 16th:- Tour of Lombardy ( Italy)