The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. In the last few years, the five most revered races are sometimes described as the 'Monuments'.

For the 2005-2007 seasons, the Classics formed part of the UCI ProTour run by the Union Cycliste Internationale. This event series also included various stage races including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, Paris-Nice and the Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré, and various non-Classic single day events. The ProTour replaced the UCI Road World Cup series which contained only one-day races. Many of the Classics, and all the Grand Tours, are not part of the ProTour for the 2008 season because of disputes between the UCI and the ASO, which organizes the Tour de France and several other major races.

The Classics

Professional races commonly regarded as Classics:

• Milan-Sanremo – the first true Classic of the year, its Italian name is La Primavera (the spring), this race is normally held in late March. First run in 1907.

Cobbled classics

• Ronde van Vlaanderen – the first of the 'Spring Classics', is normally raced in early April. First held in 1913. Known in English as the 'Tour of Flanders'.
• Ghent-Wevelgem - First held in 1934.
• Paris-Roubaix – La Reine ("Queen of the Classics") or l'Enfer du Nord ("Hell of the North") is traditionally one week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and was first raced in 1896.

Ardennes classics

• Amstel Gold Race – normally held mid-April. First run in 1966, it is one of the three "Ardennes Classics."
• La Flèche Wallonne – First run in 1936, Walloon Arrow is traditionally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Second "Ardennes Classic."
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège – late April. La Doyenne, the oldest Classic, was first held in 1892. It is the third "Ardennes Classic."

Together, the Cobbled classics and the Ardennes classics form the Spring Classics, all held in April.

• Clásica de San Sebastián (San Sebastian Classic) ()
• Züri-Metzgete (Championship of Zürich) ()
• Paris-Brussels (/)
• Paris-Tours ()
• Giro di Lombardia – also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", is normally held in October. Initially called the Milano-Milano in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907.

Some past Classics are no longer run. These include the gruelling 560km, partly motor-paced event, Bordeaux-Paris, run from 1891 to 1988.

The 'Monuments'

• Milan-Sanremo – the first true Classic of the year, its Italian name is La Primavera (the spring), this race is held in late March. First run in 1907.
• Ronde van Vlaanderen – also known as the "Tour of Flanders", the first of the 'Spring Classics', is raced in early April. First held in 1913.
• Paris-Roubaix – the "Queen of the Classics" or l'Enfer du Nord ("Hell of the North") is traditionally one week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and was first raced in 1896.
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège – late April. La Doyenne, the oldest Classic, was first held in 1892 as an amateur event; a professional edition following in 1894.
• Giro di Lombardia – also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", is held in October. Initially called the Milano-Milano in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907.

Only three riders have won all five 'Monument' one-day races during their careers: Roger De Vlaeminck, Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx. With victories in all the other Monuments, Seán Kelly almost joined this group, finishing second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen on three occasions (1984,1986,1987). Dutch rider Hennie Kuiper won each Monument, except Liège-Bastogne-Liège in which he finished second in 1980.

Riders	M-S	RvV	P-R	L-B-L	GdL	Total
Eddy Merckx ()	7	2	3	5	2	19
Roger De Vlaeminck ()	3	1	4	1	2	11
Costante Girardengo ()	6				3	9
Fausto Coppi ()	3		1		5	9
Seán Kelly ()	2		2	2	3	9
Rik Van Looy ()	1	2	3	1	1	8
Gino Bartali ()	4				3	7
Henri Pélissier ()	1		2		3	6
Alfredo Binda ()	2				4	6
Francesco Moser ()	1		3		2	6
Moreno Argentin ()		1		4	1	6
Johan Museeuw ()		3	3			6
Gaetano Belloni ()	2				3	5
Rik Van Steenbergen ()	1	2	2			5
Fred De Bruyne ()	1	1		3		5
Bernard Hinault ()			1	2	2	5
Michele Bartoli ()		1		2	2	5
Paolo Bettini ()	1			2	2	5
Louison Bobet ()	1	1	1		1	4
Germain Derycke ()	1	1	1	1		4
Felice Gimondi ()	1		1		2	4
Walter Godefroot ()		2	1	1		4
Hennie Kuiper ()	1	1	1		1	4
Jan Raas ()	1	2	1			4
Tom Boonen ()		2	2			4

Year	Milan-Sanremo	Ronde van Vlaanderen	Paris-Roubaix	Liège-Bastogne-Liège	Giro di Lombardia
2008	Fabian Cancellara	Stijn Devolder	Tom Boonen	Alejandro Valverde	-
2007	Óscar Freire	Alessandro Ballan	Stuart O'Grady	Danilo Di Luca	Damiano Cunego
2006	Filippo Pozzato	Tom Boonen	Fabian Cancellara	Alejandro Valverde	Paolo Bettini
2005	Alessandro Petacchi	Tom Boonen	Tom Boonen	Alexander Vinokourov	Paolo Bettini
2004	Óscar Freire	Steffen Wesemann	Magnus Bäckstedt	Davide Rebellin	Damiano Cunego
2003	Paolo Bettini	Peter Van Petegem	Peter Van Petegem	Tyler Hamilton	Michele Bartoli
2002	Mario Cipollini	Andrea Tafi	Johan Museeuw	Paolo Bettini	Michele Bartoli
2001	Erik Zabel	Gianluca Bortolami	Servais Knaven	Oscar Camenzind	Danilo Di Luca
2000	Erik Zabel	Andrei Tchmil	Johan Museeuw	Paolo Bettini	Raimondas Rumšas
1999	Andrei Tchmil	Peter Van Petegem	Andrea Tafi	Frank Vandenbroucke	Mirko Celestino
1998	Erik Zabel	Johan Museeuw	Franco Ballerini	Michele Bartoli	Oscar Camenzind
1997	Erik Zabel	Rolf Sørensen	Frédéric Guesdon	Michele Bartoli	Laurent Jalabert
1996	Gabriele Colombo	Michele Bartoli	Johan Museeuw	Pascal Richard	Andrea Tafi
1995	Laurent Jalabert	Johan Museeuw	Franco Ballerini	Mauro Gianetti	Gianni Faresin
1994	Giorgio Furlan	Gianni Bugno	Andrei Tchmil	Evgeni Berzin	Viatcheslav Bobrik
1993	Maurizio Fondriest	Johan Museeuw	Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle	Rolf Sørensen	Pascal Richard
1992	Seán Kelly	Jacky Durand	Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle	Dirk de Wolf	Tony Rominger
1991	Claudio Chiappucci	Edwig van Hooydonck	Marc Madiot	Moreno Argentin	Seán Kelly
1990	Gianni Bugno	Moreno Argentin	Eddy Planckaert	Eric van Lancker	Gilles Delion

See also

List of important cycling events