Monday April 3rd to Saturday April 8th
The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, otherwise known as the Tour of the Basque Country (or even 'Itzulia'!) starts Monday with a quality lineup of climbers, including the Spanish trio of Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde and Ion Izagirre, with Contador going for his fifth win in the Basque race.
March 20th to 26th
We've had some brilliant, exciting, crazy and chaotic racing in both Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris Nice in the past week, so the Volta has got it's hands full with trying to match the drama we've witnessed there!
Stages 6 and 7
A quick look at the remaing two stages of Tirreno Adriatico.. It's been a fantastic race so far, with Peter Sagan taking another fantastic victory on the uphill finish in Fermo.
Stages 6 - 8
As I have reached over 13,000 words on the first part of the race preview, I seem to have reached a data limit on the page or something, I can no longer save to it.. maybe some Joomla experts out there can tell me what is going on, it's not the first time it's happened with week-long previews..
Sunday 5th to 12th March
Stage racing in Europe starts in earnest with a double-header this week. Paris-Nice kicks off a busy week of stage racing on Sunday, with Tirreno-Adriatico starting Wednesday the 8th. In recent years Paris-Nice had played second fiddle in terms of attracting the star GC names, but like last year, there is a stellar line-up setting out from Paris this to tackle the 'Route to the Sun'.
Wed Feb 15th to Sun Feb 19th
The Vuelta a Andalucia, or the Ruta Del Sol as it is also known, starts on Wed the 15th February, the second short stage race of the European season following the Vuelta Communitat a la Valenciana, won in fine style by Nairo Quintana.
February 14th to 19th
In the last few years the Tour of Oman has been the final part in the middle-eastern desert trilogy. That isn't the case this year of course, as the Tour of Qatar disappeared from the race calendar, leaving a gap between Dubai and Oman.
The Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia 'Costa Calida' (phew) is right up there as one of the longest race names on the calendar. It takes place in the region of Murcia in the south-east of Spain and is now in its 18th year, it was first run in 2000, but up until 2011 it was actually a stage race with 5 stages.
Valencia, Spain
1st-5th February 2017
The Dubai Tour isn't the only race on this week, as the cycling season starts to well and truly get under way. The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana gives rider who haven't taken part in the TDU or have headed to Dubai a good way to start their season with an interesting course to tackle
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
January 31st to February 4th
The Dubai Tour enters its fourth year with a change to the format - no, not a TTT, an individual TT or anything like that, but the addition of a fifth day of racing in the wind and the sand. And that's another flat sprinters stage.
Adelaide, South Australia
22 January 2016, 90kms
We move on to the final stage of a great week for the Australians - Caleb Ewan bids to make it four stage wins for him and six stages out of six for the Aussies, a feat that has happened only two other times in the race's history.
Adelaide, South Australia
14-22 January 2016, 829.5kms
The Tour Down Under kicks the proper season off in style, with a strong lineup that includes World Champion Peter Sagan making his debut appearance for his new team Bora-Hansgrohe. It's a familiar sort of route, with stages to suit sprinters, puncheurs and climbers and should provide an exciting start to the 2017 season.
June 5th to June 12th
We start to get towards the serious end of the Critérium du Dauphiné now with a weekend trilogy of tough mountain stages. It starts with the uphill finish to Vaujany, followed by the Queen stage to Meribel on Saturday and then the final stage to Superdevoluy on Sunday.
June 5th to June 12th
The opening stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné include a fascinating uphill TT over just 4kms, a couple of stages for the sprinters and an early test for the climbers on the uphill finish to Chalmazal on stage 2.
June 5th to June 12th
The Critérium du Dauphiné starts on Sunday the 5th of June with a very short, but nasty 4km prologue from the ski station at Les Gets. The race sees most of the key contenders for the Tour De France lining up to test each other ahead of the Grand Boucle, which starts in a month's time in Mont St Michel in Northern France.
Romandie, CH
Unfortunately I won't have time to do a big preview of the Tour of Romandie this week, I've a lot on this week and next and need to prepare for the Giro! The race looks like it may well be affected by bad weather anyway which makes it a minefield for betting and there isn't much value at the top of the market in a ring-rusty Froome and Simon Spilak.
Trentino, Italy
BMC are not on the startlist for the Giro del Trentino again this year, so Richie Porte will not be here to defend his title from a year ago. Instead though, we have last year's runner-up Mikel Landa, three-time winner Damiano Cunego and 2012 winner Domenico Pozzovivo amongst the starting lineup looking for the win.
Monday April 4th to Saturday April 9th
The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco,or otherwise known as the Tour of the Basque Country starts Monday with a quality lineup of climbers, including Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador and Dan Martin taking each other on again just over a week after their battles in the Tour of Catalunya.
Stage 6 - Sant Joan Despi to Vilanova i la Geltru
Saturday March 26th, 197.2kms
Woet Poels?!
Woet Poels?! What was that about eh..? The Sky man made the break shortly after out man Kiryienka tried and just failed to get away, unlucky with that. It's clear though that Sky were happy to try to get up the road today than work for Swift, glad I steered clear of him.
Monday March 21st to Sunday March 27th
After two interesting races at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, both of which were materially affected by the weather, race organisers and punters alike will be hoping for better conditions for the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya which begins on Monday the 21st March in Calella
Wednesday 9th to Tuesday 15th March
Tirreno-Adriatico may, on the face of it, look a less interesting race this year than Paris-Nice, but the startlist is stellar, and the two TTs aside it should make for a fantastic week of racing too. A number of punchy stages and a climb-fest of a Queen stage will test the riders ahead of a final duel in the time trial along the coast.
Sunday 6th to Sunday 13th March
Stage racing in Europe starts in earnest with a double-header this week. Paris-Nice kicks things off on Sunday, with Tirreno-Adriatico starting Wednesday the 9th. In recent years Paris-Nice has played second fiddle to Tirreno-Adriatico in terms of attracting the star GC names, but this year we have probably the strongest line-up starting P-N in a long time.
Wednesday February 17th to Sunday February 21st
The Vuelta a Andalucia, or the Ruta Del Sol as it is more commonly known, is the second of the key early season warm-up stage races this week after the Tour of Oman. Looking at the start list though, it too seems to have lost out in terms of popularity though to the Volta a Algarve this week.
Tuesday 16th to Sunday February 21st
The Tour of Oman completes the trilogy in the middle-east and so far we have had lots of wind and sand and some surprising results. Two sprinters have won the GC in Dubai and Qatar in Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish, but it's unlikely we're going to see a sprinter win in Oman, Green Mountain will see to that.
Wednesday February 3rd to Saturday February 6th
The Dubai Tour is now in its third year, as the Emirate continues to splash the cash on the race despite the tightening of budgets as a result of the collapse in the price of oil. Cycling in the Middle East continues to grow despite the lack of fans, with the cash and the warm weather proving too much of a lure for many teams and riders.
Tour de San Luis 2016
San Luis, Argentina
18th January 2016, 920.7kms
The Tour de San Luis kicks off stage racing for 2016, starting just before the Tour Down Under gets the World Tour up and running in Australia. The TDU may get more attention and coverage (and World Tour points), but the tenth running of the Tour de San Luis has attracted its best field ever and could possibly be a better, more interesting race than the TDU this year.
Adelaide, South Australia
19th January 2016, 781.3kms
It's back! Proper road cycling is back! After months of road racing famine, we're ready to roll again with the first stage races of the year, the Tour de San Luis and the Tour Down Under. The Tour de San Luis kicks things off on Monday with the TDU starting in the small hours of Monday morning.
Sunday June 7th to Sunday June 14th
The Critérium du Dauphiné continues the build up to the 2015 Tour de France, which starts in just a month in Utrecht. Alberto Contador has laid down a marker with his victory in the Giro, now it's the turn of Chris Froome and reigning TDF champ Vincenzo Nibali to lock horns in the Ardeche.
So the Ardennes Classics have come and gone, and have been pretty boring and disappointing to say the least. That is to say, they were boring and disappointing from a fans point of view as they never really delivered what they promised, with Kwiatkowski winning a bunch sprint in AGR and Valverde just grinding all the others in to the ground in F-W and LBL.
After the magnificent spectacle that was the Tour de France in Yorkshire last July, cycling fans up north must be pinching themselves that a three-day event that draws some world class riders back to Yorkshire has appeared on the calendar this year. Backed by the ASO, it has been given a 2.1 status by the UCI and attracts international talent as well as a selection of local pro squads.
Monday April 6th to Saturday April 11th
The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, or the Tour of the Basque Country as it's known to us non-Basques, started Monday with a stage to and from Bilboa which had a Cat 2 climb near the finish but it wasn't enough to split things up significantly and quite a large group fought out the finish. In the end Michael Matthews won the stage from a bunch sprint after hanging in there over the final climb of the day.
Monday March 23rd to Sunday March 29th
After the eagerly awaited battle between Contador, Froome, Nibali and Quintana failed to materialise at the Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya takes on an added importance in shaping the seasons of some of the big GC riders. Froome didn't start because of a chest infection, Quintana put them all in their place with a superb attack on the Queen stage to Termanillo, Contador lacked the power to go with him and Nibali just wasn't fit enough to be a challenger.
Wednesday March 11th to Tuesday March 17th
The organisers of Tirreno-Adriatico must have been pinching themselves with the line-up of superstars that were taking part this year. Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, Vuelta winner and last year's T-A winner Alberto Contador, Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana and recent Vuelta a Andalucia winner Chris Froome are all here for an early season battle.
Sunday March 8th to Sunday March 15th
The Omloop and KBK may have signalled the start of the Classics season proper, but Paris-nice kicks off the serious racing for those with Grand Tour ambitions in 2015. Ok, the four best GT riders in the world are all going to Tirreno - Adriatico, but there is still a quality field taking to the start of the "Race to the sun". Last year's winner Carlos Betancur has gone to Tirreno, but 2nd and 3rd place Rui Costa and Arthur Vichot return.
Wednesday February 18th to Sunday February 22nd
The organisers of the Vuelta a Andalucia, or the Ruta del Sol as it's more commonly known, must have been pinching themselves when Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome announced they would be taking to the start line this year. Unfortunately a crash in the road nationals for Quintana means we are denied the chance of seeing the three tops guns battling it out for early season supremacy.
Tuesday February 17th to Sunday February 22nd
After a training spin around Dubai, Vincenzo Nibali heads to the Tour of Oman looking to lay down a marker for the start of the season. With two-time winner and defending champion, Chris Froome, heading to the Vuelta a Andalucia this year, it will be interesting to see who steps up to challenge Nibali, with the race likely to come down to the ascent of Green Mountain again on stage four.
Monday 8th to Friday February 12th
The Tour of Qatar has been a race for the sprinters in the past, with Tom Boonen winning it a record four times, and Mark Cavendish, Robbie Hunter and Mark Renshaw also on the honours list. Niki Terpstra won it in 2014 though on the back of a break on the very first stage, holding his lead all the way to the end from his team-mate Boonen and Jurgen Roelandts.
Sunday February 8th to Friday February 13th
The Tour of Qatar has been a race for the sprinters in the past, with Tom Boonen winning it a record four times, and Mark Cavendish, Robbie Hunter and Mark Renshaw also on the honours list. Niki Terpstra won it in 2014 though on the back of a break on the very first stage, holding his lead all the way to the end from his team-mate Boonen and Jurgen Roelandts.
Wednesday February 5th to Saturday February 8th
The Dubai Tour returns for its second edition, having been upgraded a level to a 2.HC UCI ranking. 2014 winner, Taylor Phinney, is of course still in rehabilitation following his horrific leg injury last year so won't be here to defend his title. Instead, there are a number of world class riders here to try to pick up the bling-a-licious trophy, designed by the famous Italian car designer Pininfarina.
The ninth running of the Tour de San Luis starts on Monday afternoon in Argentina. A race that was once dominated by the locals, the race has grown in importance and popularity in the last few years to now see the season launch for the likes of Giro Champion Nairo Quintana, World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski and Mark Cavendish.
And so it begins! After months of waiting, off-season scandals, team changes and kit presentations the pro peloton are ready to roll once again with the season opener in Adelaide.
The big news from the race's point of view for the locals is the fact that three-time winner and reigning champ Simon Gerrans will not be taking part having broken his collar-bone in a mountain bike accident over Christmas.
The Tour of Britain is back and this year the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirmed that the Tour of Britain would be awarded Hors Categorie status, elevating it into the same league as the likes of Criterium International and the Tour of California. Brad Wiggins is back to defend his title but faces some quality opponents.
Hot on the heels of an excellent Tour de France we have the Tour de Pologne, a handy filler for riders preparing for the Vuelta or looking for somewhere to carry good form from the Tour. A mixed course makes it a very open race with local hero Rafal Majka hoping to continue his run of form following his memorable TDF where he took two stages and the KOM jersey.
The Tour of Swizerland starts today and it sees more Tour de France contenders prepare themselves for Le Grande Boucle in a few weeks time. Romain Kreuziger, Rui Costa, Bauke Mollema, Rohan Dennis and Matthias Frank may will be battling it out for the win, but the favourite for the race Bradley Wiggins isn't going to the start in Yorkshire as we all know by now.
It's a Tour de France warm-up with the top three favourites for the Tour all starting the 2014 Critérium Du Dauphiné. Chris Froome will look to defend his title but he faces some strong opposition from Alberto Contador who has had a great start to the season and Vincenzo Nibali who is looking to hit form ahead of the Grand Depart in Yorkshire.
Well after a breathless Classics season it's time to start looking ahead to the big stage races. The Giro is less than two weeks away and the Tour looms on the horizon also. But first up is the Tour of Romandie, a six-stage race which should see Chris Froome start after pulling out of La Doyenne with a chest infection Sunday morning.
While some riders are fine tuning their Giro preparations at the Ardennes Classics, others head to Trentino for some mountain training. The four stages from the Tuesday to the Friday of this week offer a Team Time Trial and three tough stages with summit finishes.
While some riders are sprinting up the Mur de Huy or preparing for Liege-Bastogne-Liege this week, others head for some mountain fun in Trentino. The four stages from the Tuesday to the Friday of this week offer a Team Time Trial and three tough stages with two summit finishes.
Can Richie Porte take another stage race win to add to Catalunya and Paris-Nice?
Apologies everyone but due to my computer finally packing in I will not be doing as detailed a preview for the Three Days of de Panne as I usually do. I'll hope to be back in time for Flanders this weekend.
The Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest cycling stage race in the world (first run in 1911), only behind the Tour de France (1903), Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d'Italia (1909). This year is the 94th edition, with Ireland's Dan Martin looking to retain his crown.
