"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Confused re race relationships

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SpongeDad
02-27-06, 03:14 PM
I should have picked this up by now, but clearly I haven't. How do all the Tours, Spring Classics, World Championships, the Pro Tour etc relate to each other, if at all? Does the Tour of CA count for anything beyond the joy & $$ of winning it? Are the World Championships that Boonen won simply a stand alone series of races, or do they reflect prior season wins? Does the Pro Tour matter for anything?

And is the World Cup the same as the World Championship?

botto
02-27-06, 03:37 PM
good question, but i'm afraid it's like boxing these days - nobody knows.

ToC means jack.

IIRC WC means jack in the ProTour.

If the GTs manage to keep out of the ProTour, then the ProTour isn't going to be worth much in the long run.
squeegy200
02-27-06, 04:16 PM
This year will be very very confusing for everyone. Even the riders and directors have made mention of this fact.

There will be points and jerseys for the Grand Tours and their sibling subtours and classics races. Then there will be another set of points and jerseys for the UCI scheduled events and world championships.

2kwik4u
02-27-06, 05:23 PM
The world championships is just one race - winner is world champion

There used to be a world cup, based on performance in the most prestigious 1-day races in Europe

Recently, the UCI introduced the Pro Tour to replace the World Cup as a season-long competition based on results in a wider range of races including the three grand tours.
This year, the organisers of the three grand tours have withdrawn their races from the Pro Tour for various reasons, so we are waiting to see what will happen exactly.
RockyMtnMerlin
02-28-06, 08:56 AM
The world championships is just one race - winner is world champion

There used to be a world cup, based on performance in the most prestigious 1-day races in Europe

Recently, the UCI introduced the Pro Tour to replace the World Cup as a season-long competition based on results in a wider range of races including the three grand tours.
This year, the organisers of the three grand tours have withdrawn their races from the Pro Tour for various reasons, so we are waiting to see what will happen exactly.
Just so we don't confuse our new guy: The world championships for road racing are held each year in the fall. Each year they are held in a different location. This year they are in and around Salzburg, Austria. And yes there is just "one race" but what kwik meant to say is that there is one race for each category of racer in each discipline. For example, there is a time trial race and a road race for the elite men, a time trial and a road race for the elite women etc. Hope that helps instead of muddying the waters.

Finally, the Pro Tour did replace the World Cup , but only for elite men. There is still a "Women's Road World Cup", a track racing world cup etc.

If you really want to lean more (and possibly become even more confused) you can go to the UCI's (http://www.uci.ch/) site and see all of the races, categories, etc.

Good luck!