1.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
2.
Tour de France
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The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper LAuto, the race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams. Traditionally, the race is primarily in the month of July. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments over a 23-day period, the race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France. The number of teams usually varies between 20 and 22, with nine riders in each, all of the stages are timed to the finish, the riders times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race, gaining a stage win is also a hotly contested competition, fought for by a specialist cycling sprinter on each team. The Tour de France was created in 1903, the roots of the Tour de France trace back to the emergence of two rival sports newspapers in the country. On the one hand was Le Vélo, the first and the largest daily newspaper in France which sold 80,000 copies a day. On the other was LAuto, which had been set-up by journalists and business-people including Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, Adolphe Clément, the new newspaper appointed Henri Desgrange as the editor. He was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes, De Dion knew him through his cycling reputation, through the books and cycling articles that he had written, and through press articles he had written for the Clément tyre company. LAuto was not the success its backers wanted, stagnating sales lower than the rival it was intended to surpass led to a crisis meeting on 20 November 1902 on the middle floor of LAutos office at 10 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris. The last to speak was the most junior there, the chief cycling journalist, Desgrange had poached him from Giffards paper. Lefèvre suggested a six-day race of the sort popular on the track, long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted. If it succeeded, it would help LAuto match its rival and it could, as Desgrange said, nail Giffards beak shut. Desgrange and Lefèvre discussed it after lunch, Desgrange was doubtful but the papers financial director, Victor Goddet, was enthusiastic. He handed Desgrange the keys to the safe and said
3.
Tour of Flanders
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The Tour of Flanders, also known as De Ronde, is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour, first held in In 1913, the Tour of Flanders had its 100th edition in 2016. Today it is one of the five monuments of cycling, together with Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and it is one of the two major Cobbled classics, anticipating Paris–Roubaix, which is on the calendar one week after the Tour of Flanders. The event had its only interruptions during World War I and has been organized without hiatus since 1919, six men hold the record of most victories, making the Tour of Flanders unique among the major classics. Belgians Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen, Italian Fiorenzo Magni, since 2004, a womens race, the Tour of Flanders for Women, is organized annually on the same day as the mens but at a shorter distance. The Tour of Flanders was conceived in 1913 by Léon van den Haute, in the era it was customary for publishers of newspapers and magazines to organise cycling races as a means of promoting circulation. By the beginning of the 20th century, cycling was in a state in Belgium. Velodromes were closing and national championships on the road or track were no longer organised, the one major Belgian race, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, was in the French-speaking South. As the gloom increased, Odile Defraye became the first Belgian winner of the Tour de France in 1912 and he was a 20-year old Fleming and, although he rode for Alcyon, a French team, he symbolized a potential rise for Belgian cycling. Defrayes victory inspired August De Maeght, mayor of Halle and director of the press group Société Belge dImprimerie, sportwerelds most prominent cycling writer was Karel Van Wijnendaele, a young sports journalist and passionate cycling fan who had tried cycle-racing himself. The first issue appeared in time for the Championship of Flanders on 12 September 1912, Van Wijnendaele became the editor of Sportwereld on 1 January 1913. Much has been written about the link between cycling in Flanders and Flemish nationalism, Van Wijnendaele wanted to create a race run entirely on Flemish soil, crossing as many cities as possible, because all Flemish cities had to contribute to the liberation of the Flemish people. The Tour of Flanders is the classic to have been held on German-occupied territory during the Second World War. The Germans not only allowed and enjoyed the race but helped police the route as well and this led to accusations of collaboration in an age where many Flemish nationalists had strong ties with Nazi Germany. After the War, De Standaard and Het Algemeen Nieuws-Sportwereld were sequestered by the state and several journalists, a rival Flemish newspaper, Het Volk, started the Omloop van Vlaanderen in 1945. Het Volk, a publication, wanted to initiate a new cycling event in Flanders as a rival race to what it saw as the Rondes closeness to the Nazis. The Rondes organizers protested that the name was too close to their own – in Dutch there is difference between Ronde and Omloop. The Belgian cycling federation demanded that Het Volk change the name of their event and that race became the Omloop Het Volk, nowadays the opening race of the Belgian cycling season
4.
Road bicycle racing
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Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events. Professional racing has been most popular in Western Europe, centered historically on France, Spain, Italy, since the mid-1980s the sport has diversified with professional races now held on all continents of the globe. Semi-professional and amateur races are held in many countries. The sport is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale, as well as the UCIs annual World Championships for men and women, the biggest event is the Tour de France, a three-week race that can attract over 500,000 roadside supporters a day. Road bicycle racing began as a sport in 1868. The first world championship was in 1893 and cycling has been part of the Olympic Games since the sequence started in Athens in 1896. Road racing in its modern form originated in the late 19th century, the sport was popular in the western European countries of France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Some of Europes earliest road bicycle races remain among the sports biggest events and these early races include Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Paris–Roubaix, the Tour de France, the Milan–San Remo and Giro di Lombardia, the Giro dItalia, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Tour of Flanders. They provided a template for other races around the world, while the sport has spread throughout the world, these historic races remain the most prestigious for a cyclist to win. Single-day race distances may be as long as 150 miles, races over short circuits, often in town or city centres, are known as criteriums. Individual time trial is an event in which cyclists race alone against the clock on flat or rolling terrain, a team time trial, including two-man team time trial, is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock. In both team and individual time trials, the start the race at different times so that each start is fair. Race distances vary from a few km to between approximately 20 miles and 60 miles, stage races consist of several races, or stages, ridden consecutively. The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to all stages is declared the overall, or general classification. Stage races may also have other classifications and awards, such as stage winners, the points classification winner. A stage race can also be a series of road races, the stage winner is the first person to cross the finish line that day or the time trial rider with the lowest time on the course. The overall winner of a race is the rider who takes the lowest aggregate time to complete all stages
Olympic Road Race
World Road Race Champion
Dutch Road Race Championship
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
