Road

Road Racing is massed-start cycle racing on roads or circuits. First rider over the finish line wins, with anything from twenty to almost 200 competitors, depending on the event. In the UK, events range from short Youth and Juvenile (under16) races of 20km or less, through club level events for adults of between 40km and 100km. Senior riders are allotted 'categories' according to experience and points gained in previous races. New riders start as 4th category riders then going onto become 3rd, 2nd, 1st and elite category. Elite-level one day races can be up to 200km or more. The majority of adult racing takes place on public roads, though there are an increasing number of circuit events, either on roads closed to other traffic or on specially constructed circuits, some of which are shared with other sports like motor racing and kart racing, others are purpose built for cycling. All under-16 racing takes place on traffic-free closed circuits and is a safe environment to learn.