Cycling Time Trials
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cycling Time Trials is the British bicycle racing organisation which supervises individual and team time trials in the UK. It took over the work of the Road Time Trials Council in 2002.
[edit] Early history
Since 1890, the National Cyclists' Union (an association established to organise and regulate bicycle racing) had banned all cycle racing on public roads. However, there were riders who wanted to race on the road, and Frederick Thomas Bidlake came up with the idea of promoting time trials. As riders would be racing against the clock, not against other competitors in a large group, they would, he argued, be less likely to attract attention; advance event publicity was prohibited, and riders were initially obliged to wear 'inconspicuous clothing'. The first event was organised by the North Road Cycling Club, over 50 miles, and took place on 5 October 1895. Within two years, time trials had also been banned by the NCU, but events continued to be run on a secretive basis.
In 1922 Bidlake formed the Road Racing Council – membership of which was initially restricted to a small group of cycling clubs. However, as the sport flourished during the 1930s, the Council reviewed its constitution in 1937, opening up membership to all cycling clubs and changing its name to become the Road Time Trials Council, or RTTC (this step later avoided any potential for confusion when the breakaway British League of Racing Cyclists was formed in 1942).
[edit] Recent history
Over the years, the early restrictions have been lifted. Events no longer take place in an atmosphere of secrecy, the starting lists of major events are now frequently published in the cycling press, and riders now race in the same brightly coloured clothing favoured by their track and road racing counterparts.
In 2002, a new corporate organisation, Cycling Time Trials was established to continue the work of the RTTC.
