Classic race
The classic cycle races are the most important one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar (list of races)
All of the races are run in western Europe. Most of the events have been on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. In the last few years, the five top races are sometimes described as the 'Monuments'.
From 2005, the Classics have formed part of the UCI ProTour run by the Union Cycliste Internationale. This event series also includes various stage races including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Nice and the Criterium de Dauphine Libere, and various non-Classic single day events. The ProTour replaced the UCI Road World Cup series which contained only one-day races.
The Classics
Some races that were Classics are no longer run. These include the gruelling (very hard) 560km, Derny event, Bordeaux-Paris, run from 1891 to 1988.
The 'Monuments'
Five of the classic races are sometimes called "the Monuments"
Milan-Sanremo
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Paris-Roubaix
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Giro di Lombardia
Only three riders have won all five 'Monument' one-day races during their careers: Roger De Vlaeminck, Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx. All were from Belgium.
Sean Kelly of Ireland won four Monuments but only finished second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen on three occasions (1984,1986,1987).
Related pages
List of important cycling events
Cycle races