Cycling tours are an amazing way to challenge yourself on a bike. From the sand dunes of Africa to the green grass of Scotland, riders can cruise through insane landscapes all while putting their fitness to the test!
Check out our list of the most epic global cycling competitions for cyclists all over the world!
There are tours of every length and challenge for experienced riders or riders that are new to the sport and looking for a way to dive into the world of racing.
Cape Epic
Taking you across the world for this one, we have the Absa Cape Epic. The Absa Cape Epic or Cape Epic is a mountain bike stage race in Western Cape, South Africa. This annual competition began in 2004, and lasts eight days covering more than 62 miles. also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa, first staged in 2004. This event brings in professional mountain bikers from all over the world. Professional racers compete in teams of two and have to stay together for the duration of the race to qualify. There is also a lottery system in place for amateurs that hope to compete. With seven stages in total, times are taken at each stage with a winning team in each category at the end of the race.
Grinduro Scotland
Sending you back to the other side of the ocean, the Grinduro in Scotland is another epic biking race voted “Event of the Year”. The Grinduro is a unique event in biking because it combines the rigor of mountain biking with a road race style ride. Essentially, the Grinduro is a combination of a gravel road race and a mountain bike competition. This race comes with four timed segments each ranging around five to seven minutes.
This competition makes a spot on our list because of its celebration both to the sport of cycling and the community behind it. The Grinduro is a celebration of cycling with a display of art, camping, live music, and food. The course itself is a mix of rugged terrain and paved surfaces. It is infamous for its up and down terrain and smooth pavement for 60+ miles.
Death Ride Tour
The Death ride, in the beautiful California Alps is an epic course that goes through five mountain passes. With a name that rings true, this tour comes with an extremely challenging course including summiting Monitor Pass, Ebbetts Pass, and one side of Carson Pass to round out the ride. This course covers a total of 129 miles and over 15,000 feet of climbing making it a true testament to cyclists and an epic ride!
Maratona dles Dolomiti
The Maratona dles Dolomites which is latin for “Dolomites Marathon” is a single day road cycling race in the Dolomites. This race covers seven mountain pases in total and is one of the biggest Italian races bringing in over 9,000 cyclists a year from all over the globe. National Geographic described the Maratona dles Dolomites as one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth. This race is open to ameatur cyclists and is an epic ride!
Transcontinental Race
Keeping it across the pond, the Transcontinental Race or TCR is a distance cycling race throughout Europe. This race is perhaps one of the toughest endurance races covering up to 4,299 km and taking up to 10 days to complete. This race is unique because of the time it is compared against. Instead of being a stage raced event, riders are timed from the moment they start to the moment they finish the race making it an individual time trial. Perhaps one of the most grueling races, riders must take on these routes head on to decide when to rest, refuel, and continue riding.
The most famous and prestigious cycling races in the world include the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta de España. While these races are the most prestigious events in the world of cycling, there are a number of other epic tours all around the world for cyclists looking to test their strength and ride through mountains, deserts, and everything in between!
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