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109-653: Since 1989 the event has been included in season-long competitions at the highest level of UCI , as part of the UCI Road World Cup (1989–2004), the UCI ProTour (2005–2010), UCI World Ranking (2009–2010) and since 2011 of the UCI World Tour . It is the only one-day World Tour race staged in the Netherlands and is considered the most important Dutch road cycling event. Dutchman Jan Raas holds

218-467: A calendar conflict; the only time the Amstel Gold Race was ever run in the autumn. Dutchman Harrie Steevens won the race over a distance of 254 km. In 1969 the race returned to April. Guido Reybrouck won the fourth edition, the first in a series of Belgian wins. The race was affected by severe snow and hailstorms , forcing many riders to abandon due to hypothermia . A young race,

327-627: A championship or series of championships was required to pay the UCI 30 per cent of ticket receipts from the track and 10 per cent from the road. Of this, the UCI kept 30 per cent and gave the rest to competing nations in proportion to the number of events in which it competed. The highest gate money in this pre-war era was 600 000 francs in Paris in 1903. There were originally five championships: amateur and professional sprint, amateur and professional road race, and professional Motor-paced racing . The road race

436-736: A comparison to everyday objects. Hailstones larger than 1 inch in diameter are denoted as "severe." Megacryometeors , large rocks of ice that are not associated with thunderstorms, are not officially recognized by the World Meteorological Organization as "hail", which are aggregations of ice associated with thunderstorms, and therefore records of extreme characteristics of megacryometeors are not given as hail records. Hail can cause serious damage, notably to automobiles, aircraft, skylights, glass-roofed structures, livestock , and most commonly, crops . Hail damage to roofs often goes unnoticed until further structural damage

545-400: A cone of weaker reflectivities. More recently, the polarization properties of weather radar returns have been analyzed to differentiate between hail and heavy rain. The use of differential reflectivity ( Z d r {\displaystyle Z_{dr}} ), in combination with horizontal reflectivity ( Z h {\displaystyle Z_{h}} ) has led to

654-747: A legal defense fund was set up to assist him. Under approval of the UCI, the Free Rate Downhill Race took place in May 2015 on Crimea , an internationally recognised Ukrainian territory that was annexed by the Russian Federation in March 2014. By officially overseeing an international competition with Russian license on the Ukrainian peninsula, the UCI was the first and only international sports governing body which undermined

763-463: A liquid phase. Because it undergoes "wet growth", the outer layer is sticky (i.e. more adhesive), so a single hailstone may grow by collision with other smaller hailstones, forming a larger entity with an irregular shape. Hail can also undergo "dry growth", in which the latent heat release through freezing is not enough to keep the outer layer in a liquid state. Hail forming in this manner appears opaque due to small air bubbles that become trapped in

872-444: A process to review and allow Russian and Belarusian riders to participant UCI events under Individual neutral athlete. The UCI organises cycling's world championships, administration of which it gives to member nations. The first championships were on the road and on the track. They were allocated originally to member nations in turn, on condition the country was deemed competent and that it could guarantee ticket sales. A nation given

981-443: A row over whether Great Britain should be allowed just one team at the world Championships or separate teams representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Britain found itself outflanked, and it was not able to join the UCI – under the conditions the UCI had imposed – until 1903. There were originally 30 countries affiliated to the union. They did not have equal voting power and some had no vote at all. Votes were distributed by

1090-566: A season-long competition of elite-level. The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships for men and women offers individual and team championships in several track cycling disciplines. Each UCI-sponsored event feeds into the season-long competition known as the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup . In addition, a series of single-day events are held each year to determine the Cyclo-cross World Champion at

1199-467: A variety of hail classification algorithms. Visible satellite imagery is beginning to be used to detect hail, but false alarm rates remain high using this method. The size of hailstones is best determined by measuring their diameter with a ruler. In the absence of a ruler, hailstone size is often visually estimated by comparing its size to that of known objects, such as coins. Using objects such as hen's eggs, peas, and marbles for comparing hailstone sizes

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1308-420: Is GR , while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS . Hail is possible within most thunderstorms (as it is produced by cumulonimbus ), as well as within 2 nmi (3.7 km) of the parent storm. Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air within the parent thunderstorm (similar to tornadoes ) and lowered heights of the freezing level. In the mid-latitudes , hail forms near

1417-401: Is a very useful tool to detect the presence of hail-producing thunderstorms. However, radar data has to be complemented by a knowledge of current atmospheric conditions which can allow one to determine if the current atmosphere is conducive to hail development. Modern radar scans many angles around the site. Reflectivity values at multiple angles above ground level in a storm are proportional to

1526-435: Is also much more common along mountain ranges because mountains force horizontal winds upwards (known as orographic lifting ), thereby intensifying the updrafts within thunderstorms and making hail more likely. The higher elevations also result in there being less time available for hail to melt before reaching the ground. One of the more common regions for large hail is across mountainous northern India , which reported one of

1635-421: Is an example. This is the result of energy from the radar hitting hail and being deflected to the ground, where they deflect back to the hail and then to the radar. The energy took more time to go from the hail to the ground and back, as opposed to the energy that went directly from the hail to the radar, and the echo is further away from the radar than the actual location of the hail on the same radial path, forming

1744-418: Is another factor in the hailstone's growth. When the hailstone moves into an area with a high concentration of water droplets, it captures the latter and acquires a translucent layer. Should the hailstone move into an area where mostly water vapor is available, it acquires a layer of opaque white ice. Furthermore, the hailstone's speed depends on its position in the cloud's updraft and its mass. This determines

1853-550: Is based in Aigle , Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules, such as in matters of doping . The UCI also manages the classification of races and the points ranking system in various cycling disciplines including road and track cycling , mountain biking , Gravel, and BMX , for both men and women, amateur and professional. It also oversees the World Championships . After

1962-427: Is between 2.5 cm (1 in) and golf-ball -sized 4.4 cm (1.75 in). Stones larger than 2 cm (0.79 in) are usually considered large enough to cause damage. The Meteorological Service of Canada issues severe thunderstorm warnings when hail that size or above is expected. The US National Weather Service has a 1 in (2.5 cm) diameter threshold, effective January 2010, an increase over

2071-483: Is composed of transparent ice or alternating layers of transparent and translucent ice at least 1 mm (0.039 in) thick, which are deposited upon the hailstone as it travels through the cloud, suspended aloft by air with strong upward motion until its weight overcomes the updraft and falls to the ground. Although the diameter of hail is varied, in the United States, the average observation of damaging hail

2180-496: Is dependent on the size of the stone, its drag coefficient , the motion of wind it is falling through, collisions with raindrops or other hailstones, and melting as the stones fall through a warmer atmosphere . As hailstones are not perfect spheres, it is difficult to accurately calculate their drag coefficient - and, thus, their speed. In the United States, the National Weather Service reports hail size as

2289-702: Is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone . Ice pellets generally fall in cold weather, while hail growth is greatly inhibited during low surface temperatures. Unlike other forms of water ice precipitation, such as graupel (which is made of rime ice ), ice pellets (which are smaller and translucent ), and snow (which consists of tiny, delicately crystalline flakes or needles), hailstones usually measure between 5 mm (0.2 in) and 15 cm (6 in) in diameter. The METAR reporting code for hail 5 mm (0.20 in) or greater

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2398-407: Is impacted by factors such as higher elevation, lower freezing zones, and wind shear. Like other precipitation in cumulonimbus clouds, hail begins as water droplets. As the droplets rise and the temperature goes below freezing, they become supercooled water and will freeze on contact with condensation nuclei . A cross-section through a large hailstone shows an onion-like structure. This means that

2507-568: Is imprecise, due to their varied dimensions. The UK organisation, TORRO , also scales for both hailstones and hailstorms. When observed at an airport , METAR code is used within a surface weather observation which relates to the size of the hailstone. Within METAR code, GR is used to indicate larger hail, of a diameter of at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm). GR is derived from the French word grêle . Smaller-sized hail, as well as snow pellets, use

2616-403: Is not highly accurate. Traditionally, hail size and probability can be estimated from radar data by computer using algorithms based on this research. Some algorithms include the height of the freezing level to estimate the melting of the hailstone and what would be left on the ground. Certain patterns of reflectivity are important clues for the meteorologist as well. The three body scatter spike

2725-474: Is not necessarily true. The storm's updraft , with upwardly directed wind speeds as high as 110 mph (180 km/h), blows the forming hailstones up the cloud. As the hailstone ascends, it passes into areas of the cloud where the concentration of humidity and supercooled water droplets varies. The hailstone's growth rate changes depending on the variation in humidity and supercooled water droplets that it encounters. The accretion rate of these water droplets

2834-509: Is seen, such as leaks or cracks. It is hardest to recognize hail damage on shingled roofs and flat roofs, but all roofs have their own hail damage detection problems. Metal roofs are fairly resistant to hail damage, but may accumulate cosmetic damage in the form of dents and damaged coatings. Hail is one of the most significant thunderstorm hazards to aircraft. When hailstones exceed 0.5 in (13 mm) in diameter, planes can be seriously damaged within seconds. The hailstones accumulating on

2943-422: Is still within the thunderstorm, though 40% now lies within the clear air under the anvil. Below 10,000 ft (3,000 m), hail is equally distributed in and around a thunderstorm to a distance of 2 nmi (3.7 km). Hail occurs most frequently within continental interiors at mid-latitudes and is less common in the tropics, despite a much higher frequency of thunderstorms than in the mid-latitudes. Hail

3052-637: Is the Cauberg , which is covered up to three times, and has sometimes been in the last few kilometres of the race. The Keutenberg and the Eyserbosweg are two other renowned climbs of the race. Although the race is younger than many other cycling classics , the course changed considerably over the years. The race's inaugural edition started in Breda in North Brabant , but quickly moved closer to

3161-514: Is the most important international event for boys and girls under 16 years old, the first edition of which took place in 2000. The UCI sponsors world championships for artistic cycling and cycle ball at an annual event known as the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships . The national federations form confederations by continent : Hailstorm Hail is a form of solid precipitation . It

3270-528: Is to enlist the help of the general public to develop a database of hail accumulation depths. During the Middle Ages , people in Europe used to ring church bells and fire cannons to try to prevent hail, and the subsequent damage to crops. Updated versions of this approach are available as modern hail cannons . Cloud seeding after World War II was done to eliminate the hail threat, particularly across

3379-578: The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the UCI said that Russian and Belarusian teams were forbidden from competing in international events. It also stripped both Russia and Belarus of scheduled events. UCI was founded in 1900 in Paris by the national cycling sports organisations of Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland. It replaced the International Cycling Association (ICA) by setting up in opposition in

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3488-677: The Olympic Games , and FIAC cyclists competed against FICP members on only rare occasions. In 1992, the UCI reunified the FIAC and FICP, and merged them back into the UCI. The combined organisation then relocated to Aigle, close to the IOC in Lausanne. In 2004, the UCI constructed a 200-metre velodrome at the new World Cycling Centre adjacent to its headquarters. In September 2007 the UCI announced that it had decided to award ProTour status for

3597-564: The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships . In mountain bike racing , the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships is the most important and prestigious competition each year. This includes the disciplines of cross-country and downhill . In addition, this event consists of world championship events for bike trials riding . In 2012 the first cross-country eliminator world championship

3706-729: The UCI Women's WorldTeams , who are invited to all UCI World Tour races. Between 1998 and 2015, the UCI Women's Road World Cup served as a season-long competition of elite-level one-day events. From 2016, the competition was replaced by the UCI Women's World Tour - which includes stage stages as well as one-day events, including many races used in the World Cup. The UCI Track Cycling World Championships for men and women offers individual and team championships in several track cycling disciplines. The UCI Track Cycling World Cup serves as

3815-510: The interiors of continents , while, in the tropics , it tends to be confined to high elevations . There are methods available to detect hail-producing thunderstorms using weather satellites and weather radar imagery. Hailstones generally fall at higher speeds as they grow in size, though complicating factors such as melting, friction with air, wind, and interaction with rain and other hailstones can slow their descent through Earth's atmosphere . Severe weather warnings are issued for hail when

3924-668: The territorial integrity of Ukraine. Yet, in the aftermath of this "scandal of sports and international law" the UCI negotiated with the Cycling Federation of Ukraine and, in November 2015, announced to remove the Free Rate Downhill Race officially from the UCI international calendar. Turkmenistan 's authoritarian leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was awarded the highest award of the Union Cycliste Internationale for his country's commitment to

4033-653: The 90’s had covered significant parts of Liège in Belgium, addressing the Mount Saint Peter , meant to include a larger selection of climbs. From 1991 until 2002 the race ended in Maastricht as well. The finish was on the Maasboulevard, keeping the flat run-in to the finish. In 2000 sprint specialist Erik Zabel won the race, leading out the sprint of a 20-strong group. From 2003 to 2012

4142-485: The Amstel Gold Race for elite women were held. In 2003, it was part of the UCI Women's Road World Cup . The race started in Maastricht 30 minutes after the men's. It was run over 114 km, taking in nine climbs and similarly finishing on top of the Cauberg. The race was discontinued after the third edition, because organization on the same day and on largely the same roads as the men's race was considered too difficult on

4251-514: The Amstel Gold Race has never started in Amsterdam; nor in Rotterdam or Utrecht, three of The Netherlands' largest cities. In 1967 the start location moved to Helmond , in front of sponsor Amstel 's headquarters, and the distance was scaled back to 213 km. Arie den Hartog won the second edition, becoming the first Dutch winner. In 1968 the race took place on 21 September because of

4360-475: The Amstel Gold Race struggled to find its place on the international calendar between the much older cobbled classics and the Ardennes classics and had problems attracting the best riders. For 2 years, cycling great Eddy Merckx did not participate because organizers could not pay his starting fee. In 1973 race director Herman Krott agreed to pay a considerable sum to Merckx's team, provided that he would win

4469-438: The Cauberg came 19 km from the finish, hoping for a "more open" race. The most successful rider in recent years has been classics specialist Philippe Gilbert . The Belgian won the race four times between 2010 and 2017 , basing his victories on late bursts of speed and power on the Cauberg. Therefore, earned the nickname of ‘Mister Cauberg’ and ‘Amstel Gilbert Race’ came up. In 2015 Polish rider Michał Kwiatkowski became

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4578-635: The Cauberg was removed so that the Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg (7.4 km from the finish) are the last climbs now. It was done so that things would opened up more the character of the race. Although the race location in Limburg is not part of the Ardennes , neither geographically nor geologically, it is often considered the opening race of the Ardennes Week . In 2004 the Amstel Gold Race has swapped places with Liège–Bastogne–Liège on

4687-546: The Chain . In 2004 the UCI won the case, and in 2006 won the appeal. Voet had made various claims about UCI and Verbruggen's behavior related to the Laurent Brochard Lidocaine case at the 1997 UCI Road World Championships . In 2006, according to Cycling News, the UCI contacted Greg LeMond after an interview he did in 2006 with L'Equipe , and threatened to sue him for defamation. LeMond mentioned

4796-855: The International Professional Cycling Federation ( Fédération Internationale de Cyclisme Professionnel or FICP). The UCI assumed a role coordinating both bodies. The FIAC was based in Rome , the FICP in Luxembourg, and the UCI in Geneva . The FIAC was the bigger of the two organisations, with 127 member federations across all five continents. It was dominated by the countries of the Eastern Bloc which were amateur. The FIAC arranged representation of cycling at

4905-628: The July 29, 2010 case of a foot of hail accumulation in Boulder County , Colorado. On June 5, 2015, hail up to four feet deep fell on one city block in Denver, Colorado . The hailstones, described as between the size of bumble bees and ping pong balls, were accompanied by rain and high winds. The hail fell in only the one area, leaving the surrounding area untouched. It fell for one and a half hours between 10:00 pm and 11:30 pm. A meteorologist for

5014-734: The National Weather Service in Boulder said, "It's a very interesting phenomenon. We saw the storm stall. It produced copious amounts of hail in one small area. It's a meteorological thing." Tractors used to clear the area filled more than 30 dump truck loads of hail. Research focused on four individual days that accumulated more than 5.9 inches (15 cm) of hail in 30 minutes on the Colorado front range has shown that these events share similar patterns in observed synoptic weather, radar, and lightning characteristics, suggesting

5123-560: The Netherlands in 1966. Authorities feared that a race organized on the royal family's celebration day would cause possible uprisings. Four days before the anticipated date, Vissers and Krott called off their race and were staging a press conference, when the Dutch roads ministry in The Hague called to say that the race could be organized after all — provided it would never again be scheduled on Queen's Day . On Saturday 30 April 1966,

5232-684: The Netherlands' National Holiday . The plan was to start in Amsterdam , before branching out to the east of the country and finishing in Maastricht , in the southeast of the country, totalling 280 km. However, many problems emerged. Krott and Vissers had neglected the many rivers along the route and miscalculated the zigzags needed to cross them, making the intended distance far longer than 280 km. New plans were made to start in Utrecht , then Rotterdam ; and to stage an alternative finish in

5341-686: The UCI Ethics Committee to investigate Pat McQuaid actions after the UCI Licence Commission denied team Katusha a place in the 2013 WorldTour – the action which was promptly reversed. Kimmage had been a racer and had a long history of investigating doping in the sport, including a book and, more recent to the suit, articles for the Sunday Times and L'Equipe which discussed doping and UCI. Greg LeMond, David Walsh and others voiced their support for Kimmage and

5450-693: The UCI World Tour. To expand the participation and popularity of professional road bicycle racing throughout the globe, the UCI develop a series of races collectively known as the UCI Continental Circuits for each region of the world. The UCI organize the Road World Championships (road race first held in 1959, time trial first held in 1994), as well as administer the premier tier UCI Women's World Tour races. The highest level teams in women's road cycling are

5559-527: The UCI administered the UCI Road World Cup , a season-long competition incorporating all the major one-day professional road races. In 2005 this was replaced by the UCI ProTour series which initially included the Grand Tour road cycling stage races (the Tour de France , Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España ) and a wider range of other one-day and stage races. However, the three Grand Tour races withdrew from

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5668-651: The UCI-commissioned Vrijman report, as well as Operacion Puerto , and called the body "corrupt". Another lawsuit was by Hein Verbruggen against WADA Chief Dick Pound in Swiss court regarding his comments about doping and the UCI. The lawsuit was settled by the parties in 2009. In 2011, the UCI sued Floyd Landis in Switzerland after Landis accused the body of several misdeeds, including

5777-468: The aforementioned alleged coverup involving Lance Armstrong and the 2001 Tour de Suisse . In 2012 Cycling News reported that a District Court had ruled for UCI against Landis. In 2012 UCI president Pat McQuaid and former president Hein Verbruggen , as well as the UCI itself, sued journalist Paul Kimmage in Switzerland for defamation . In 2013, the President of Cycling Federation of Russia called

5886-493: The cause of costly and deadly events throughout history. One of the earliest known incidents occurred around the 9th century in Roopkund , Uttarakhand , India , where 200 to 600 nomads seem to have died of injuries from hail the size of cricket balls . Narrow zones where hail accumulates on the ground in association with thunderstorm activity are known as hail streaks or hail swaths, which can be detectable by satellite after

5995-412: The coding of GS, which is short for the French word grésil . Terminal velocity of hail, or the speed at which hail is falling when it strikes the ground, varies. It is estimated that a hailstone of 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter falls at a rate of 9 m/s (20 mph), while stones the size of 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter fall at a rate of 48 m/s (110 mph). Hailstone velocity

6104-421: The cuffs and collar of their clothing. For decades, professional road cyclists refused to wear helmets . The first serious attempt by the UCI to introduce compulsory helmet use was the 1991 Paris–Nice race, which resulted in a riders' strike, and the UCI abandoned the idea. After the death of Andrei Kivilev in the 2003 Paris–Nice, new rules were introduced on 5 May 2003, with the 2003 Giro d'Italia being

6213-407: The difficulty of the course Peter Easton recounts a mathematician's calculations: ...applying logic to overcome a sense of incomprehension is the key to understanding this race. And there is truth in numbers. Six of the climbs come in the first 92 kilometers — one every 15.2 kilometres. The remaining 25 come over the final 165 kilometres. That's one every 6.6 kilometres. Breaking it down further,

6322-470: The final hour of racing has eight climbs in 42 kilometres. Now we're down to one every 5.25 km. At 40 km/h, that's one every 7 ½ minutes. Not overly funny, and definitely all business. The hills in the 2015 Amstel Gold Race : The race is the Netherlands' largest professional race but is frequently criticized for the danger of its course. The route runs on narrow roads, through often densely-populated suburbs and villages. Due to its high population density and

6431-531: The finish was at the top of the Cauberg climb, in the Valkenburg municipality, close to Maastricht. The finale was redesigned in 2013 and the finish was moved west, near the hamlets of Vilt and Berg en Terblijt , 1.8 kilometres from the top of the Cauberg. The altered finish mirrors the location that was used for the 2012 UCI Road World Championships in Valkenburg. Since 2017 The last (4th) climb of

6540-410: The finish was shortly after the top of the Cauberg climb in Valkenburg . Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov won the first uphill-finish edition with an attack before the Cauberg. In 2013 the finish was moved 1.8 km away from the top of the Cauberg, near the centre of Valkenburg , resulting in a mainly flat, straight finish. In 2017 the race organisers moved the finish so that the final climb of

6649-445: The finish. Since 2001 there is a Cyclosportive Amstel Gold Race, organized annually on the day before the professional event. Cycling fanatics and recreational bike riders can ride trajectories of 60, 100, 125, 150, 200 or 240 km. Every distance finishes on the location of the professional race, immediately after the climb of the Cauberg. The number of participants is restricted to 12,000, in order to secure riders' safety. In 2009

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6758-489: The first Amstel Gold Race was raced from Breda to Meerssen, without serious incidents. Three riders from the Ford-France team sprinted for victory. Dutchman Jan Hugens suffered a mechanical failure in the final meters and was beaten by Frenchman Jean Stablinski who won the inaugural edition . At 302 km, it was the longest edition ever. There were 120 starters, of which only 30 finished. Despite its original intent,

6867-536: The first major race affected. The 2003 rules allowed for discarding the helmets during final climbs of at least 5 kilometres in length; subsequent revisions made helmet use mandatory at all times. The UCI was accused of accepting a bribe in the 1990s to introduce the keirin , a track cycling race, into the Olympics. An investigation by the BBC claims that the UCI was paid approximately $ 3,000,000 by Japanese sources to add

6976-502: The first reigning world champion to win the race since Bernard Hinault in 1981 . Kwiatkowski won again seven years later, when he outsprinted Benoît Cosnefroy in the finish of the 2022 edition . Although the Netherlands are known for their flat, wind-affected roads, the Amstel Gold Race takes place in the hilly southern region of Limburg . The route twists through the rolling Limburg countryside, often turning abruptly to climb as many hills (bergen) as possible. The most notable climb

7085-473: The first sport to introduce the test for EPO". The UCI has sued or threatened to sue several cyclists, journalists, and writers for defamation after they accused it of corruption or other misdeeds related to doping. Many, though not all, of these suits are heard in the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey , Switzerland In 2002 UCI sued Festina soigneur Willy Voet over claims in his book Breaking

7194-666: The first time ever to an event outside of Europe; the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia. The announcement followed negotiations between UCI President Pat McQuaid and South Australian Premier Mike Rann . In 2013 Tracey Gaudry became the first woman appointed as vice president of the UCI. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the UCI said that Russian and Belarusian teams are forbidden from competing in international events. It also stripped both Russia and Belarus of scheduled events. In 3 May 2023, UIC approved

7303-466: The focus of the race some more to the hills and it changed the character of the race. The peloton is usually made up of the same riders starting in the Ardennes races. Classics riders with sufficient climbing abilities as well as Grand Tour specialists. The Dutch hills , in the very south of Limburg, are the Netherlands' only hilly region. The chalk – loess relief was formed by the foothills of

7412-406: The force of the updrafts in the hail-producing thunderstorm, whose top is usually greater than 10 km high. It then falls toward the ground while continuing to grow, based on the same processes, until it leaves the cloud. It will later begin to melt as it passes into air above freezing temperature. Thus, a unique trajectory in the thunderstorm is sufficient to explain the layer-like structure of

7521-411: The freezing level is below the altitude of 11,000 ft (3,400 m). Movement of dry air into strong thunderstorms over continents can increase the frequency of hail by promoting evaporational cooling, which lowers the freezing level of thunderstorm clouds, giving hail a larger volume to grow in. Accordingly, hail is less common in the tropics despite a much higher frequency of thunderstorms than in

7630-502: The ground can also be hazardous to landing aircraft. Hail is a common nuisance to drivers of automobiles, severely denting the vehicle and cracking or even shattering windshields and windows unless parked in a garage or covered with a shielding material. Wheat, corn, soybeans, and tobacco are the most sensitive crops to hail damage. Hail is one of Canada's most expensive hazards. Rarely, massive hailstones have been known to cause concussions or fatal head trauma . Hailstorms have been

7739-438: The hailstone is made of thick and translucent layers, alternating with layers that are thin, white and opaque. Former theory suggested that hailstones were subjected to multiple descents and ascents, falling into a zone of humidity and refreezing as they were uplifted. This up and down motion was thought to be responsible for the successive layers of the hailstone. New research, based on theory as well as field study, has shown this

7848-408: The hailstone. The only case in which multiple trajectories can be discussed is in a multicellular thunderstorm, where the hailstone may be ejected from the top of the "mother" cell and captured in the updraft of a more intense "daughter" cell. This, however, is an exceptional case. Hail is most common within continental interiors of the mid-latitudes, as hail formation is considerably more likely when

7957-514: The high cost of land, many Dutch houses do not have garages and cars are left parked in the street. Much of the course is urban, with many traffic-calming devices such as speed bumps , pinches, bollards , ramps, chicanes , refuge islands and roundabouts , prompting Scotland's Robert Millar to call it the Tour of the Roundabouts . Crashes are common in the race. Riders in italics are still active. From 2001 to 2003, three editions of

8066-582: The high-frequency hail regions of northern Argentina. The high frequency of hailstorms in these areas of South America is attributed to the region's orographic forcing of convection, combined with moisture transport from the Amazon and instability created by temperature contrasts between the surface and upper atmosphere. In Colombia , the cities of Bogotá and Medellín also see frequent hailstorms due to their high elevation. Southern Chile also sees persistent hail from mid april through october. Weather radar

8175-472: The highest hail-related death tolls on record in 1888. China also experiences significant hailstorms. Central Europe and southern Australia also experience a lot of hailstorms. Regions where hailstorms frequently occur are southern and western Germany , northern and eastern France , southern and eastern Benelux , and northern Italy . In southeastern Europe, Croatia and Serbia experience frequent occurrences of hail. Some mediterranean countries register

8284-563: The hilly region. From 1971 to 1997 the start was in Heerlen . The race started since 1998 on the central market square in Maastricht's Inner City and returns there in 2024 after the starts at Vrijthof square between 2019 and 2023 . Since 2005 the race is run entirely within the boundaries of Dutch Limburg, except right after the Vaalserberg climb, there is a short passage through Gemmenich in Belgium. Past editions in

8393-509: The international calendar. Ever since, the race is organised on the Sunday after the cobbled classic Paris–Roubaix and before the Ardennes classic Flèche Wallonne the next Wednesday. Until 2002 , the Amstel Gold Race had a more flat run-in to the finish and was sometimes won by riders excelling in the cobbled classics, notably the Tour of Flanders. In recent decades, organizers chose to shift

8502-486: The irregular circuits. After a 14-year hiatus, the women's race returned in 2017, organized on the same day as the men's race at approximately half the distance. Likewise, the race starts in Maastricht and finishes in Vilt / Berg en Terblijt , Valkenburg . It features 17 categorized climbs, including four ascents of the Cauberg . Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen won the race with an attack at 8 km from

8611-519: The maximum frequency of hail during the Fall season. In North America , hail is most common in the area where Colorado , Nebraska , and Wyoming meet, known as "Hail Alley". Hail in this region occurs between the months of March and October during the afternoon and evening hours, with the bulk of the occurrences from May through September. Cheyenne, Wyoming is North America's most hail-prone city with an average of nine to ten hailstorms per season. To

8720-524: The mid-latitudes because the atmosphere over the tropics tends to be warmer over a much greater altitude. Hail in the tropics occurs mainly at higher elevations. Hail growth becomes vanishingly small when air temperatures fall below −30 °C (−22 °F), as supercooled water droplets become rare at these temperatures. Around thunderstorms, hail is most likely within the cloud at elevations above 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Between 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and 20,000 ft (6,100 m), 60% of hail

8829-437: The more powerful updrafts in a stronger storm can keep larger hailstones aloft. Hail forms in strong thunderstorm clouds, particularly those with intense updrafts , high liquid-water content, great vertical extent, large water droplets, and where a good portion of the cloud layer is below freezing (0 °C; 32 °F). These types of strong updrafts can also indicate the presence of a tornado. The growth rate of hailstones

8938-576: The most frequent hailstorms in the world, with 10-30 storms per year on average. The Patagonia region of southern Argentina also sees frequent hailstorms, though this may be partially due to graupel (small hail) being counted as hail in this colder region. The triple border region between the Brazilian states of Paraná , Santa Catarina , and Argentina, in southern Brazil is another area known for damaging hailstorms. Hailstorms are also common in parts of Paraguay , Uruguay , and Bolivia that border

9047-527: The neighbouring Ardennes and Eifel low mountain ranges. The hills define the character of the race: they are generally shorter and not as high as in the Ardennes, but come in much higher frequency than in Liège–Bastogne–Liège . The highest point of the region and the race is Vaalserberg at 322.7 m above sea level ; the top of the Cauberg is at 133.7 m altitude. The present course features more than 30 short climbs which come in faster succession as

9156-603: The north of this area and also just downwind of the Rocky Mountains is the Hailstorm Alley region of Alberta , which also experiences an increased incidence of significant hail events. Hailstorms are also common in several regions of South America , particularly in the temperate latitudes . The central region of Argentina , extending from the Mendoza region eastward towards Córdoba , experiences some of

9265-636: The number of tracks, or velodromes , that each nation claimed. France had 18 votes, the highest number, and Germany and Italy 14 each. Britain had eight, a number the writer Bill Mills said was acquired "by including many rather doubtful grass tracks." In 1965, under the pressure of the IOC , when the Olympics was an amateur event, the UCI created two subsidiary bodies, the International Amateur Cycling Federation ( Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme or FIAC) and

9374-432: The official website crashed, because of a run on the tickets. In 2010 all 12,000 tickets were sold in just 38 minutes. Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale ( French pronunciation: [ynjɔ̃ siklist ɛ̃tɛʁnɑsjɔnal] ; UCI ; English: International Cycling Union ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI

9483-627: The one-day world championships for BMX racing (bicycle motocross) cycling. Unlike other types of cycling disciplines, trials is a sport where the main factors are the stability and the control of the bike in extreme situations where speed also plays an important role. The first UCI Trials World Championships took place in 1986. Fourteen years later, in 2000, the UCI Trials World Cup made its debut. The most World Champions titles have been won by riders from Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. The UCI Trials World Youth Games

9592-408: The phrase Amstel Gold Raas . In 1983 Australian Phil Anderson became the first non-European winner. In 1991 the finish of the Amstel Gold Race moved to Maastricht , Limburg 's capital city, and in 1998 the start also moved there. The character of the race was more and more defined by the hilly area in the south of the province. Only two Dutch riders, Michael Boogerd and Erik Dekker , have won

9701-491: The possibility of predicting these events prior to their occurrence. A fundamental problem in continuing research in this area is that, unlike hail diameter, hail depth is not commonly reported. The lack of data leaves researchers and forecasters in the dark when trying to verify operational methods. A cooperative effort between the University of Colorado and the National Weather Service is in progress. The joint project's goal

9810-510: The precipitation rate at those levels. Summing reflectivities in the Vertically Integrated Liquid or VIL, gives the liquid water content in the cloud. Research shows that hail development in the upper levels of the storm is related to the evolution of VIL. VIL divided by the vertical extent of the storm, called VIL density, has a relationship with hail size, although this varies with atmospheric conditions and therefore

9919-407: The previous threshold of 0.75 in (1.9 cm) hail. Other countries have different thresholds according to local sensitivity to hail; for instance, grape-growing areas could be adversely impacted by smaller hailstones. Hailstones can be very large or very small, depending on how strong the updraft is: weaker hailstorms produce smaller hailstones than stronger hailstorms (such as supercells ), as

10028-489: The race in the last two decades before Mathieu van der Poel 's win in 2019 . Both Boogerd and Dekker beat American Lance Armstrong in a two-man sprint in Maastricht, in 1999 and 2001 respectively. The 2001 race only had 37 finishers of a 190-strong pack, the lowest number in modern times. Boogerd shares the record of seven podium finishes with Jan Raas, having achieved one victory, four-second places, two third places and several other top-ten finishes. From 2003 to 2016,

10137-462: The race progresses, meaning riders have little time to recover in between the hills. 25 climbs are covered in the last 165 kilometres of the race, with eight coming in the final 45 kilometres. The steepest are the Cauberg , Keutenberg and Eyserbosweg . Some ascents are as steep as 22% (Keutenberg), others are more gently sloped. In contrast to the cobbled bergs in the Tour of Flanders , the hills in Limburg are all asphalted. Attempting to explain

10246-500: The race to the Olympic programme, something denied by the UCI. When Floyd Landis confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career in May 2010, he alleged that the UCI had accepted a bribe from Lance Armstrong to cover up an EPO positive after the 2001 Tour de Suisse. Discussing doping in 2012, UCI president Pat McQuaid emphasised the fact that his organisation was "the first entity to introduce blood tests,

10355-406: The race. Merckx started and won the Amstel Gold Race more than three minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. Two years later, he was the first rider to win a second time. In the late 1970s Dutchman Jan Raas won the Amstel Gold Race a record five times, of which four were consecutive. Raas was able to rely on his strong sprint finish, but also took two solo victories. Dutch media started coining

10464-416: The same day and on largely the same roads as the men's race and is part of the UCI Women's World Tour . The Amstel Gold Race was created by Dutch sports promoters Ton Vissers and Herman Krott, who ran a company called Inter Sport. Their dream was to create a Dutch classic cycle race able to compete with the monument races of Flanders and Italy. The first edition was announced to take place on 30 April 1966,

10573-501: The same restrictive effects as snow accumulation, albeit over a smaller area, on transport and infrastructure. Accumulated hail can also cause flooding by blocking drains, and hail can be carried in the floodwater, turning into a snow-like slush which is deposited at lower elevations. On somewhat rare occasions, a thunderstorm can become stationary or nearly so while prolifically producing hail and significant depths of accumulation do occur; this tends to happen in mountainous areas, such as

10682-472: The series, and in July 2008 all the major professional teams threatened to quit the series, putting its future in doubt. The ProTour was replaced as a ranking system the following year by the UCI World Ranking , which added the three Grand Tours , two early season stage races, and five more one-day classics to the 14 remaining ProTour events. The World Ranking and ProTour merged in 2011, becoming

10791-481: The small village of Meerssen in Limburg. Moreover, less than three weeks before the start, organizers realized they had not obtained permission to cross the Moerdijk Bridge , the only exit route out of Rotterdam. The route had to be redrawn again and the start was moved further south, to Breda . On top of all that, the Dutch militant hippy counterculture movement Provo had declared a state of anarchy in

10900-482: The sort that affected Graeme Obree in the 1990s and the banning in 2000 of all frames that did not have a seat tube. The winner of a UCI World Championship title is awarded a rainbow jersey , white with five coloured bands on the chest. This jersey can be worn in only the discipline, specialty and category of competition in which it was awarded, and expires on the day before the following world championship event. Former champions are permitted to wear rainbow piping on

11009-580: The sport. The UCI organize the Road World Championships (road race first held in 1921, time trial first held in 1994), as well as administer the premier tier UCI World Tour and second tier UCI ProSeries races. The highest level teams in men's road cycling are the UCI WorldTeam , who are obliged to take part in all UCI World Tour races. On top of having organized the Road World Championships since 1921, from 1989 until 2004,

11118-435: The stone during rapid freezing. These bubbles coalesce and escape during the "wet growth" mode, and the hailstone is more clear. The mode of growth for a hailstone can change throughout its development, and this can result in distinct layers in a hailstone's cross-section. The hailstone will keep rising in the thunderstorm until its mass can no longer be supported by the updraft. This may take at least 30 minutes, based on

11227-505: The stones reach a damaging size, as it can cause serious damage to human-made structures, and, most commonly, farmers' crops. Any thunderstorm which produces hail that reaches the ground is known as a hailstorm . An ice crystal with a diameter of >5 mm (0.20 in) is considered a hailstone . Hailstones can grow to 15 cm (6 in) and weigh more than 0.5 kg (1.1 lb). Unlike ice pellets, hailstones are often layered and can be irregular and clumped together. Hail

11336-545: The storms pass by. Hailstorms normally last from a few minutes up to 15 minutes in duration. Accumulating hail storms can blanket the ground with over 2 in (5.1 cm) of hail, cause thousands to lose power, and bring down many trees. Flash flooding and mudslides within areas of steep terrain can be a concern with accumulating hail. Depths of up to 18 in (0.46 m) have been reported. A landscape covered in accumulated hail generally resembles one covered in accumulated snow and any significant accumulation of hail has

11445-441: The track: unpaced, human-paced and mechanically paced. They were promoted for three classes of bicycle: solos, tandems and unusual machines such as what are now known as recumbents, on which the rider lies horizontal. Distances were imperial and metric, from 440 yards and 500 metres to 24 hours. The UCI banned recumbents in competitions and in record attempts on 1 April 1934. Later changes included restrictions on riding positions of

11554-431: The varying thicknesses of the layers of the hailstone. The accretion rate of supercooled water droplets onto the hailstone depends on the relative velocities between these water droplets and the hailstone itself. This means that generally the larger hailstones will form some distance from the stronger updraft, where they can pass more time growing. As the hailstone grows, it releases latent heat , which keeps its exterior in

11663-467: The winning record with five victories. Dutch beer brewer Amstel has served as the race's title sponsor since its creation in 1966. The name does not directly refer to the river Amstel , which runs through and near the city of Amsterdam . It took place without interruption until the COVID-19 pandemic . Since 2017, a Women's Amstel Gold Race is held, after a 14-year hiatus. The event is organised on

11772-744: Was held in Saalfelden. The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a series of races, held annually since 1991. At the 2011 World Championships held in Champéry, Switzerland the UCI announced a controversial new sponsorship deal with the previously unheard of RockyRoads Network. The season-long competition is known as the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup and the UCI BMX World Championships serves as

11881-518: Was traditionally a massed start but did not have to be: Britain organised its road championship before the war as a time trial, the National Cyclists Union believing it best to run races against the clock, and without publicity before the start, to avoid police attention. Continental European organisers generally preferred massed races on circuits, fenced throughout or along the finish to charge for entry. The original records were on

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