Thirteen Cycling Races

Okay - relatively short and sweet this week.

Not a lot of time to put in, but I had fun, anyway. :)

This week, I present to you:

Thirteen Cycling Races!

The cycling season starts earlier than ever now, with the Tour Down Under in January. Australian cyclists are making an especially strong showing all over the world this year, I might add. Woot!

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The Tour of Oman in February is one of the earliest races on the calendar, too - and the first winner of this brand new race was my boy, Fabian Cancellara! Double-Woot!

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A beautiful race to watch, Paris-Nice proved quite interesting this last March. Alberto Contador won, but it wasn't easy - which is what made it exciting. Heh.

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Milan San-Remo, also in March, is always fascinating to watch. Occasionally, riders come seemingly out of nowhere to win - like Fabian did back in 2008.

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The Tour of Flanders in April is legendary amongst cycling fans. Some of the toughest climbs around - on cobblestones, no less - make this one-day race particularly challenging.

Photos: Cancellara in 2008, 2009 (after his chain broke on the final climb) and finally, 2010.

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The Giro d'Italia, in May, is another favorite. One of the three Grand Tours of cycling (along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana), almost every professional cyclist wants a win here under his belt.
pictured above: Alberto Contador in 2008
pictured below: a disastrous rainy stage end from 2007

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The Tour of California moved to May this year, which meant it conflicted with the Giro d'Italia. But that didn't stop some of cycling's heavy hitters from taking part.

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In June comes the Tour of Switzerland. My boy - who happens to be Swiss - won it last year. He's riding again this year. Go Spartacus! Go Fab!

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July. Do I really need to mention the Tour de France? Okay. I just did. ;)

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August brings a couple of races, too. One of them is the Tour of Ireland - beautiful to watch, by the way...

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Also in August, the final Grand Tour - la Vuelta a Espana - or Tour of Spain.

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In September comes the UCI World Championships. My boy, of course, won the Time Trial competition. I was happy. :)

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In October, we have the Race of the Falling Leaves - or as it's more properly known, il Giro di Lombardia.

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And there we have them: Thirteen cycling races from throughout the year.











And for you greedy lot, there's just a tiny bit more to enjoy.
















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So here ya go:

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Ciao...!