James Moore was an English bicycle racer. He is popularly regarded as the winner of the first official cycle race in the world in 1868 at St-Cloud, Paris, although this claim seems to be erroneous. In 1869 he won the world's first road race Paris–Rouen sponsored by Le Vélocipède Illustré and the Olivier brothers' Michaux Bicycle Company. Moore covered the 113 km (70 mi) in 10 hours and 25 minutes. He was one of the first stars of cycle racing, dominating competition for many years.
James Moore (right), winner of Paris–Rouen 1869, Jean-Eugène-André Castera, (left) runner up.
Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sports include artistic cycling, cycle polo, freestyle BMX, mountain bike trials, hardcourt bike polo and cycleball. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events. The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the governing body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the governing body for many ultra-distance cycling races.
Cyclists in the 2021 Giro d'Italia race.
OP Grand Prix, a one-hour cycling competition in Porvoo, Finland, on June 11th 2005
Cycle-racing has a long history: French cyclists Léon Flameng and Paul Masson at the 1896 Summer Olympics.
In many European countries, bicycle racing is a source of national pride: German Democratic Republic postage stamp depicting Täve Schur, 1960