won all 8 original classics. Until the 1980s there were originally eight recognised classics, the five Monuments (see Cycling Monuments below) plus
La Flèche Wallonne,
Paris–Brussels and
Paris–Tours. Due to various traffic and organizational problems these events came and went in various guises (for example, Paris–Tours became Blois–Chaville, before returning in its current form). Paris–Brussels disappeared altogether between 1967 and 1976. Flèche Wallonne was always on the Saturday before Liege–Bastogne–Liege (it was known as The Ardennes Weekend), before being shortened and moved to the preceding Wednesday. The remaining five then became known as the 'Monuments'.
Rik van Looy is the only rider to win all eight.
Eddy Merckx and
Roger De Vlaeminck both won seven, both missing out at Paris–Tours. • Monuments highlighted in
bold.
Season openers Season openers are usually not regarded as highly as other classics apart from the
Omloop, but receive a lot of attention because of their position early in the season, typically in February. •
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – opening the Belgian cycling season, forming a double header with
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne which is held the following day •
Grand Prix La Marseillaise – opening the French cycling season •
Trofeo Laigueglia – opening the Italian cycling season •
Trofeo Pollença – opening the Spanish cycling season as part of the
Vuelta a Mallorca Spring classics Italian spring classics •
Strade Bianche – race that includes sections of
strade bianche gravel roads. Despite its relatively short history, the Strade Bianche has quickly gained significant prestige, the uniqueness of its parcours sometimes drawing comparison with Paris-Roubaix. First held in 2007. By the mid 2020s, media and riders discussed the possibility of the race being elevated to a "cycling monument" in future. •
Milano–Torino – first run in 1876, the race has sometimes been held in the autumn and had some continuity problems due to financial problems but returned to the UCI calendar in 2012. From 2022, the race was moved from autumn to spring, before Milan-San Remo. It is the oldest classic race in the world. •
Milan–San Remo – the first monument of the year, its Italian name is
La Primavera ("The Spring") or
La classicissima. This race is normally held on the Saturday closest to the
vernal equinox. First run in 1907. It is the longest classic by distance, and is often considered a 'sprinter's classic' despite a number of notable climbs, as it tends toward bunch sprint finishes. •
Trofeo Alfredo Binda – one of the oldest and most established races in the women's calendar, having first been held in 1974, and part of the
Women's World Tour since it was founded in 2016, and unusual at that level in being without a male equivalent.
Cobbled classics •
E3 Harelbeke – the first of the "Spring Classics" in
Flanders, first held in 1958. •
Gent–Wevelgem – first raced in 1934, in recent years held on the Sunday between Milan–San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. •
Tour of Flanders – (
Ronde van Vlaanderen) is normally raced in early April, first held in 1913. •
Paris–Roubaix –
La Reine ("Queen of the Classics") or ''l'Enfer du Nord'' ("The Hell of the North") is traditionally held one week after the Tour of Flanders, and was first raced in 1896. Arguably the most famous of all the classics, the race is dominated by multiple
pavé sections, and ends in a circuit of the Roubaix Velodrome.
Ardennes classics •
Amstel Gold Race – normally held mid-April, it is the first of the three
Ardennes Classics or
hill classics, one week after Paris–Roubaix. First run in 1966. •
La Flèche Wallonne – the
Walloon Arrow is the second Ardennes Classic, since 2004 held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. First run in 1936. •
Liège–Bastogne–Liège –
La Doyenne, the oldest monument, was first raced in 1892. It is the third Ardennes Classic, held in late April, one week after the Amstel Gold Race. A race characterized by multiple short, steep climbs, it is often considered the most physically arduous of the classics, rewarding stamina and explosiveness.
Summer classics After Liège, the one-day races begin to give way to the
stage races leading to the
Grand Tours between May and September. Although there are no 'monuments' in this period, some important summer classics are held from July to September. •
Clásica de San Sebastián – known as
Donostia–Donostia in
Spain •
Hamburg Cyclassics, formerly HEW Cyclassics and Vattenfall Cyclassics •
Trittico Lombardo – three separate races in
Lombardy, traditionally in August but since 2014 moved to September: •
Coppa Ugo Agostoni – held on Saturday •
Coppa Bernocchi – held on Sunday a day after Coppa Ugo Agostoni •
Tre Valli Varesine – the
Three valleys of Varese, held on Tuesday 4 days before Giro di Lombardia since 2015 •
Bretagne Classic – held on a Sunday in late August on a circuit near the small
Breton village of
Plouay, traditionally known as Grand Prix Ouest France – Plouay •
Grand Prix de Fourmies – held since 1928 in Northern France, held on a Sunday in the first half of September since 1976, a week or two after Bretagne Classic •
Laurentian Classics – two one-day races in Canada, named after the
Saint Lawrence River that runs through
Quebec, organized since 2010 •
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec – raced on a Friday in early September •
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal – held on Sunday two days after the Grand Prix de Québec
Autumn classics Following the end of the
Vuelta a España in early September, the nature of the racing once more tends towards the one-day races. The autumn classics are held from September to November. •
Paris–Brussels – First held in 1893, since 2013 renamed the
Brussels Cycling Classic and only run on Belgian territory •
Paris–Tours – known as the "Sprinters' Classic", first race in 1896. Since 2018, the route has included gravel sectors in vineyards. •
Giro dell'Emilia – one week before the Giro di Lombardia, one of the hardest Classics on the calendar, with the famous
San Luca, Bologna, circuit. •
Giro del Piemonte – first run in 1906. •
Giro di Lombardia – also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", first held in 1905 as
Milano–Milano. Considered the biggest Autumn Classic in cycling, and the only post-Spring Monument, it is often referred to as the 'climber's classic' in comparison to the early spring 'sprinter's classic',
Milan–San Remo, with significant long climbs throughout, including the iconic
Madonna del Ghisallo. •
Japan Cup – held since 1992, at the end of October, around
Utsunomiya. ==Past classics==