Racing Before the Tour de France

It is easy to think of the Tour de France as the foundation of professional road cycling — but the Spring Classics predate it. Several of the races we now call Monuments were established in the 1890s and early 1900s, born from a combination of commercial opportunism, national pride, and the Victorian public's fascination with the bicycle as a symbol of modernity and speed.

Understanding the origins of these races illuminates not just their history, but why they carry such disproportionate weight in the sport's culture today.

Milan–San Remo: The First Monument (1907)

Milan–San Remo — known in Italy as La Classicissima — was first run in 1907, organised by the sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which would later also create the Giro d'Italia. The race was conceived as a way to sell papers and celebrate the growing Italian cycling scene.

The inaugural route covered nearly 290km from Milan to the Ligurian coast — an extraordinary distance for a single-day race, and one that shocked early participants who had no support infrastructure and rode through freezing Alpine conditions. The race's success demonstrated that a long, dramatic one-day event could capture the public imagination in ways that smaller races could not.

Paris–Roubaix: Born from Industrial Belgium (1896)

Even older than Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix was first run in 1896, organised by textile industrialists from the Roubaix area who wanted to promote cycling as both sport and transportation. The race route crossed roads that were already cobbled in 1896 — the pavé was not a deliberate challenge inserted for drama, but simply the reality of road infrastructure in northern France and Belgium at the time.

As tarmac replaced cobblestones across France during the 20th century, race organisers made a pivotal decision: to preserve and deliberately route the race through the remaining cobbled sections as a link to the race's historical identity. This choice transformed Roubaix from a race made hard by circumstance into a race made legendary by design.

Tour of Flanders: A Nation's Race (1913)

The Tour of Flanders was created in 1913 by journalist Karel Van Wijnendaele as both a sporting event and an act of Flemish cultural assertion. Belgium in the early 20th century was a country divided between its French-speaking Walloon south and its Dutch-speaking Flemish north, and the Ronde was explicitly framed as a celebration of Flemish identity and geography.

Van Wijnendaele used his newspaper, Sportwereld, to promote the race and embed it in the cultural life of the region. From its earliest editions, the Ronde drew enormous roadside crowds — Flemish communities turning out to cheer their local heroes through the bergs and cobbled lanes of the Flemish Ardennes.

This cultural dimension never faded. The Tour of Flanders remains today not merely a race but a regional festival, observed as an unofficial public holiday by much of Flemish Belgium.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège: La Doyenne, the Oldest (1892)

The oldest of the five Monuments is Liège–Bastogne–Liège, first run in 1892 — making it the oldest surviving professional cycle race in the world. Known as La Doyenne (The Elder), it was originally organised as a test of long-distance cycling endurance, attracting both professionals and amateurs in its early editions.

Unlike the Flemish Classics, Liège takes place in the Ardennes hills of Wallonia and demands a different kind of rider — one who can climb repeatedly over steep, punching ascents rather than explode over short cobbled bergs. The race's character has remained remarkably consistent across more than 130 years.

What Made These Races Endure?

The Spring Classics survived two World Wars, the transformation of European roads, the professionalisation and commercialisation of cycling, and more than a century of social change. Several factors explain their remarkable longevity:

  • Geographical identity — Each race is inseparable from its landscape. The Classics are not generic sporting events; they are expressions of specific places and cultures.
  • Unpredictability — Unlike stage races where gradual attrition often produces a predictable winner, one-day races can turn on a single moment. This drama keeps fans engaged.
  • Suffering as spectacle — There is something deeply compelling about watching elite athletes endure extraordinary physical hardship. The Classics, with their cobblestones and Ardennes climbs, provide this in abundance.
  • Media legacy — Most Classics were created by newspapers and have maintained strong media partnerships ever since. The storytelling apparatus that surrounds them is as old as the races themselves.

A Living Heritage

The Spring Classics are not museum pieces. They continue to evolve — routes change, technology advances, new stars emerge — while remaining anchored in their founding identities. That combination of living sport and living history is what makes them unique in all of professional athletics, not just professional cycling.

To watch a Spring Classic is to watch more than a bike race. It is to witness more than a century of sporting tradition playing out in real time.