Road cycling is the original Olympic cycling competition and the most popular cycling competition worldwide. The world famous Tour de France is a road race.
In the first modern Olympics (1896), the cyclists raced 87 kilometers over two laps of the marathon course (remember fencing was one of the other five original Olympic sports). It wasn’t until 1984 in Los Angeles that women got to join the action. Currently there are four events in the Olympic road-racing program: men’s and women’s road race and men’s and women’s time trials. The road race has a mass start and the riders race directly against one another. The men’s distance is 250km and the women’s distance is 140km. In the time trials the riders, who start at 90-second intervals, race against the clock over distances of 44km for men and 29km for women (source: www.factmonster.com)
All week, our very own Mrs. Harcourt has been swapping the keyboard and singing for her pedals – unbeknown to many, she is a very accomplished road cyclist. Today’s photos shown her sharing her experiences with one of the Kindergarten groups.
