The year 2015 will go down as an incredibly exciting one in the history of competitive cycling. This was the year that Chris Froome won his second Critérium du Dauphiné and possibly more impressively, his second Tour de France. In June, Bradley Wiggins broke the iconic UCI hour record by completing 54.526km in the space of an hour at the Lee Valley Velopark. It also saw the launch of a brand new cycling competition, the Tour De Yorkshire.
Although 2015 was good, the 2016 cycling season looks like it’s shaping to be even more entertaining. The schedule is one of the busiest ever with two big road races and the Olympics, so if you enjoy a bet but think you’ll struggle to keep up with all the big races then make this the year to try an online bookmakers instead. Betway will be offering the latest news and odds on all the big races on their website throughout the year.
Cycling fans haven’t got long to wait for the next big cycling tournament. The Tour de San Luis starts on the 18th December for a week in Argentina. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the tournament which consists of an individual time trial, and six competitive stages. The Argentineans have often dominated the tournament, winning 5 of the 9 previous competitions. Last year Argentinean Daniel Diaz became the first person to win the race for a second time, and he’ll be looking to make it a hat-trick this year.
In March, the Track Cycling World Championships hit London for five days of exciting velodrome action. The competition returns to the UK for the first time since 2000 and the first time in London for over 110 years. Last year France took advantage of being on home soil and dominated the tournament, leaving with 5 gold and 2 bronze medals. Great Britain had a disappointing tournament, leaving with just three silver models for the men’s and women’s team pursuits and women’s omnium.
The Tour De Yorkshire returns to Yorkshire again this year in April and May, but won’t feature some of the popular cities that were a big part of the tournament’s appeal last year. Norwegian Lars Petter Nordhaug clinched the overall victory for Team Sky in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire last year by just 11 seconds. The top British finisher was Erick Rowsell, who only came eighth after crossing the line a whole 81 seconds after Nordhaug. The home crowds will be hoping for a better tournament for the Brits after Mark Cavendish dislocated his shoulder last year.
Cycling fans will have to wait until the summer for the big two tournaments of the year, the Giro d’Italia and the world famous Tour De France. This year the Giro d’Italia starts in the Netherlands in Apeldoorn, before passing through the Alps and some of Italy’s most challenging roads over the three week competition. The Tour De France starts on the 2nd July at Mont Saint-Michel before passing through Spain, Andorra and Switzerland before ending in Paris.
The season will then come to an end on the 16th October at the Road World Championships in Qatar before the whole season starts again in 2017.
