The calendar for the 2015 cycling season was officially released yesterday by the International Cycling Union on the occasion of the world championships inPonferrada. The races organised by Amaury Sport Organisation will account for more than 100 days of cycling in eight different countries. Following an exceptional Grand Start to the Tour de France 2014, the Tour of Yorkshire makes its début between 1st and 3rd May, whilst the riders of the 102nd Tour de France will set off from Utrecht on 4th July…
 
Ladies first! The start of proceedings for A.S.O.’s 2015 season will be take place on 3rdFebruary in the Middle East involving the competitors on the 7th Ladies Tour of Qatar. Furthermore, women’s cycling will have pride of place throughout the year with the Women’s Flèche Wallonne in spring and the 2nd edition of La Course by the Tour de France on 26th July in the magnificent setting of the Champs-Elysées. After a first edition which met with resounding success (the event was broadcast on television in 157 countries), the stars of the women’s pack will do battle on the world’s most beautiful avenue, as a curtain raiser for the finish of the last stage of Le Tour.
 
The men will also start their year in the Middle East in February. On the flat and windy roads of Qatar and then on the more undulating terrain of Oman there will be something for everyone: from sprinters to climbers and not forgetting hunters of victories on the classics. The season will change tack at the start of March with Paris-Nice which traditionally marks the arrival of the prestigious stage races. Following the race to the sun, Corsica, the Isle of Beauty, will welcome the Critérium International for the 6th consecutive year in Porto-Vecchio, before leaving centre stage to the classics season. Soon after Paris-Roubaix, the kings of the cobbles will hand the spotlight over to the pugilists who will be focusing on the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
 
Less than a year after the resounding sporting and popular success that was the Grand Start of the Tour de France 2014, the international elite riders’ pack will come together in Yorkshire for another three day event (1st to 3rd May). Between one Tour and another, the riders will have the opportunity to test themselves on the World Ports Classic on roads exposed to the strong winds of Zeeland, just several weeks before the Grand Start of the 102nd Tour de France in Utrecht. Beforehand, the Critérium du Dauphiné will have provided a full-scale rehearsal for the favourites on Le Tour.
 
Several weeks later, the riders will be battling for victory at far-off latitudes in the magnificent scenery of northern Norway for the 3rd edition of the Arctic Race of Norway, before heading much further south, to Malaga, to start the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España. Thereafter, the final challenge of Paris-Tours, the classic of the falling leaves, will complete the season.
 
The 2015 calendar of A.S.O. races and title holders:
 
03/02 - 06/02: 7th Ladies Tour of Qatar (K. Wild)
08/02 - 13/02: 13th Tour of Qatar (N. Terpstra)
17/02 - 22/02: 6th Tour of Oman (C. Froome)
08/03 - 15/03: 73rd Paris-Nice (C. Betancur)
28/03 - 29/03: 84th Critérium International (J-C. Péraud)
12/04: 113th Paris-Roubaix (N. Terpstra)
22/04: 18th Women’s Flèche Wallonne (P. Ferrand-Prévot)
22/04:   79th Flèche Wallonne (A. Valverde)
26/04:   101st Liege-Bastogne-Liege (S. Gerrans)
01/05 – 03/05: 1st Tour of Yorkshire
23/05 – 24/05: 4th World Ports Classic (T. Bos)
07/06 - 14/06: 67th Critérium du Dauphiné (A. Talansky)
04/07 - 26/07: 102nd Tour de France (V. Nibali)
26/07: 2nd La Course by the Tour de France (M. Vos)
13/08 - 16/08: 3rd Arctic Race of Norway (S. Kruijswijk)
22/08 - 13/09: 70th Vuelta a Espana (A. Contador)
23/08 - 29/08: 52nd Tour de l’Avenir (M.A. López)
11/10: 109th Paris-Tours (J. Degenkolb, winner in 2013)
11/10:   73rd Paris-Tours Espoirs (F. Dassonville, winner in 2013)