Loyal readers might be familiar with the calendar but with the season in full swing now there are many more visitors so if you missed it during the off-season, here’s a reminder you can get a pro cycling calendar for your organiser, phone or computer diary. All of the major UCI men’s and women’s pro races around the world are included. Below there’s a quick explainer on how to subscribe, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.
There is a permanent link to the calendar at the top of the inrng.com home page if you just want to visit from time to time to check what’s coming up or plan a trip (mobile users: tap “menu” at the top of the page for the drop down menu and then > 2017 pro cycling calendar) . If you want the full calendar on your own device or diary then you can download the iCal file for free.
iCal
An iCal is a calendar file that you can store on your phone or electronic diary like Outlook. There are several ways to get this on to your computer or phone.
Subscribe and get automatic updates: The recommended option is to subscribe by copying the iCal URL:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/je11ffc8fofunre8ep350o6b5g%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
- If you use MacOS copy the URL… and open the Calendar app. Then got to File > New Calendar Subscription…) and paste in the link and you’re done
- iPhone/iPad users should tap a finger here and wait for the pop up message and select copy. Then go to settings > calendar > accounts > add account > other > add subscribed calendar and paste in the URL
- If you use Microsoft Outlook, copy the URL and then go to Tools > Account Settings > Internet Calendars and paste the URL to subscribe
All these methods above are the best because any additions, deletion and amendments will automatically be pushed to your diary or device. Subscribe and any changes will be fed through automatically.
Direct download: if you can’t do the above, you can download the iCal file for your organiser, phone, computer and other devices from here:
Right-click to save the ics / iCal / iCalendar file and you can import it into your electronic diary. If you have trouble with the subscription then this is an easier option but it means you’re saving today’s version of the calendar and you might want to return to this page to download a new version a few times a year in order to process any amendments and corrections. If you downloaded this file in January before to get the new version as there have been many date changes (eg Tour of Turkey); name changes (eg the Eneco Tour is now the BinckBank Tour) and sadly cancellations.
Google Calendar: If you use Google Calendar then click on the icon on the bottom-right of the calendar up at the top of the page. Note this method can work with Android phones when the iCal file might not although you might need the Google Sync calendar app.
Calendar Labels Explained
Each race is listed along with its location and UCI status eg World Tour, 1.1 or 2.HC.
- Any race with the 1. prefix is a one day race; any race with the 2. prefix is a stage race
- WT means World Tour and includes all the prime races on the calendar, from the three grand tours (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España) to the one day classics like Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia, as well as others like the Tour of Poland or the Tour Down Under and can be anywhere in the world. All 18 UCI men’s WorldTeams must ride and organisers may invite UCI Pro Continental Teams.
After this come races in different races that are grouped by region, with the UCI Asia Tour, UCI America Tour, UCI Africa Tour and UCI Oceania Tour and UCI Europe Tour. The bulk of races on the calendar above are in Europe with races like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the Tour of the Alps or the Tour of Denmark but we also find races like the Herald Sun Tour, the Tour de Langkawi and the Japan Cup.
- *.HC is the next level down and up to 70% of the teams may come from the UCI Pro Teams but UCI Pro Continental and UCI Continental teams can be invited as well as the local national team
- *.1 is another step down where up to 50% of the teams can be UCI Pro Team with the rest from Pro Continental, Continental and also national teams
- There are also *.2, U23 and criteriums but these races are excluded to keep the calendar concise and focus on the top pro races around the world
Women’s Race labels
- WWT is the the Women’s World Tour. Unlike the men’s World Tour there’s no set quota of teams who must participate, instead the top-20 teams on the rankings in early January must be invited for one day races and the top-15 for stage races. It is then up to the teams to respond whether they’d like to ride. WWT races can invite national teams
- W1.1 and W2.1 are women’s one day and women’s stage races where the field is made up of women’s teams, national teams as well as regional or club teams
FAQ
- “Why are the races listed as all day events?” – It’s impossible to know today whether a race is slated to finish at, say, 4pm or 5.15pm so there’s no point guessing the precise slot, it’s easier to list them as all day events
- “Help, my phone rings at midnight with an alert” – by default notifications are turned off but check your device settings too once you’ve subscribed avoid being alerted in the middle of the night
- “I only want the World Tour races“, “I don’t want the women’s races” etc: some readers email in special requests it’s hard to accommodate every view and offer 12 versions with and without different races so it’s this or nothing rather than creating and maintaining several calendars a year
- “I’ve subscribed to your 2016 calendar, can’t you just add next year’s races to save me from subscribing again?” This is possible but it means you’d end up with a diary with hundreds of dormant entries from the past. It’s lighter and faster to do it year by year and unsubscribing and subscribing anew should take 10 seconds
- “The date for such-and-such race is wrong“. The UCI calendar is provisional plus it’s possible something gets mangled during the data entry process. If you spot a change or a typo please email in and it can be fixed for everyone