Below is a list of frequent used words and the definition we use at Pro Cycling Stats.
| Term | Defenition | |
|---|---|---|
| # | Abbreviaton for number. E.g. in a ranking or result. | |
| 1.1 | - Race part of UCI Continental calendar. Third tier professional one day races. (M/F) - 1.1 races in junior category (M/F) are second tier junior one day races. | more |
| 1.2 | Race part of UCI Continental calendar. Non-professional one day races under the auspices of the UCI. (M/F) | more |
| 1.2U | Second tier one day races for male riders under 23 years of age. | more |
| 1.PRO | Race part of the UCI Pro Series. Second tier professional one day races. (M/F) | more |
| 1.UWT | Race part of the UCI WorldTour. Top tier men's professional one day races. | more |
| 1.WWT | Race part of the UCI Women's WorldTour. Top tier women's professional one day races. | more |
| 2.1 | - Race part of UCI Continental calendar. Third tier professional stage races. (M/F) - 2.1 races in junior category (M/F) are second tier junior stage races. | more |
| 2.2 | Race part of UCI Continental calendar. Non-professional stage races under the auspices of the UCI. (M/F) | more |
| 2.2U | Second tier stage races for male riders under 23 years of age. | more |
| 2.PRO | Race part of the UCI Pro Series. Second tier professional stage races. (M/F) | more |
| 2.UWT | Race part of the UCI WorldTour. Top tier men's professional stage races. | more |
| 2.WWT | Race part of the UCI Women's WorldTour. Top tier women's professional stage races. | more |
| Abandoned | A rider who has withdrawn from the race. This can happen due to injury, illness, exhaustion, mechanical failure, or other reasons. An abandoned rider is no longer part of the competition and will not finish the race and is not allowed to start the next stage. | |
| Active | Riders that are still competing in races. In other words, riders who have not retired yet. | |
| Attack KM | Total amount of kilometers a rider covered in a race/stage in a group or solo in front of the peloton. | |
| Best worst result | Literally the best worst result of a rider or set of riders in a race or set of races. | |
| Bib | Bib number. A unique number assigned to each rider prior to the race, displayed on the back of their jersey and on a frame plate attached to the seat post of their bike. A tool for race jury, commentators, spectators, and viewers to distinguish riders. A rider wears the same number throughout an event. | |
| Break | See 'breakaway'. | |
| Breakaway | One rider or a group of riders accelerate away from the peloton to establish a lead. These riders work together to maintain their advantage and stay ahead, aiming to win the stage or gain a strategic advantage. As long as this group stays ahead of the peloton, this group is called 'the breakaway' or 'break'. | |
| Bunch sprint | A large group of riders contest the finish of a race or stage together. | |
| Cat. | Category of races. ME stands for Men Elite, WE stands for Women Elite, MU stands for Men under 23, WU stands for Women under 23, MJ stands for Men junior, WJ stands for Women junior, ME + WE stands for Men Elite + Women Elite (e.g., in Mixed Relay events). | |
| CC | Continental Championships. | more |
| CEST | Central European Summer Time. We at PCS use the Central European Summer Time to calculate with. It is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time (CET; UTC+01:00) during the other part of the year. | |
| Chasing | Effort by one or more riders or teams to catch up with a breakaway group or a lone rider ahead of them. | |
| Classics | Typically refers to the spring classics (1.PRO and 1.UWT/1.WWT) early season, starting with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and ending with Eschborn-Frankfurt (or the final .PRO/WT one day race before the start of the Giro). Also used for major one day races on national level. | |
| Competitor | Rider on the startlist of a certain race/stage (excluding DNS/DNS/OTL/DSQ in previous stages). | |
| Crash | A rider touching the race surface with a part of his/her body other than his/her feet. | |
| CT | Continental team. Third and lowest tier UCI-registered teams. One level below ProTeams. Below Continental teams are club teams. | |
| CTW | See 'CT'. Women's Continental teams. | |
| CX | Cyclocross | |
| Debutant | Rider competing a race for the first time. | |
| DF | Did finish. (A part of) the race was not contested competitively, but the riders did cross the finish line. Subsequently, no result was recorded for this race. | |
| DNF | Did not finish. This rider did not complete the race. | |
| DNS | Did not start. This rider was registered for the race but ultimately did not participate. | |
| Dropout(s) | A rider that either DNS/DNF/OTL or DSQ is counted as a dropout. | |
| DSQ | Disqualified. This rider has been disqualified from the race after committing an offense (and if applicable, excluded from participating in subsequent stages within the same event). | |
| Early breakaway | Breakaway established in the early stages of a stage/races and that survives for at least half of the race/stage total distance. | |
| ETA | Estimated time of arrival. The time when the leading rider in the race is expected to reach a certain point (e.g., the finish line). | |
| F | 'F' is for following. Riders you are following. | more |
| Favorite500 | An end of year ranking where PCS-followers annually choose their most favourite cyclist (M/F) of all time. | more |
| GC | General classification. The main classification of a stage race where a rider's stage times are added together, plus any penalty seconds and minus any bonus seconds. The leader in the general classification generally wears a special jersey to be recognizable as the leader. The rider leading the general classification after the final stage wins | |
| Grand Tour | The three biggest stage races in professional cycling: the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España. | more |
| Group 1 | The leading group or rider in the race. Subsequently group 2 is the following group in the race, etc. | |
| Group of favourites | A small subset of riders within a race who are considered the main contenders for victory. | |
| GRV | Gravel races | |
| GT | See 'Grand Tour' | |
| ITT | Individual Time Trial. An individual discipline where the rider with the fastest time over a specified course wins. | |
| JC | Jeux Continentales. Continental Games. | more |
| Jersey wearer | The rider donning a specific leader's (e.g., GC, KOM, Points, Youth). This rider may not always be the classification leader, as priority rules or personal choices (like wearing a national champion's jersey) can apply. In such cases, the jersey is worn by the next eligible rider in the standings. | |
| JR | 'Jeux Régionaux', regional races. For example: Arab Championships. | more |
| Key event | An important occurrence during a race or outside of it. For example, a historical, tragic, record-breaking, or special event. | |
| King/Queen of the Spring | A ranking based on the PCS points accumulated on all classics (1.PRO and 1.UWT/1.WWT) between the Omloop het Nieuwsblad and May the 1st. | more |
| KM | Kilometer | |
| KM-0 | The point at which the official race or stage begins. It signifies the start of competitive racing after any neutralized or ceremonial sections. | |
| KOM | King of the Mountains classification. A classification within a stage race, where points are awarded to riders who reach the summit of designated climbs first. The rider with the most points often wears a special jersey signifying their status as 'the best climber'. | |
| Major Tours | A term coined by Pro Cycling Stats to refer to seven of the biggest week-long stage races. These include Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné, and the Tour de Suisse. | |
| ME | Men Elite. Men's elite races. | |
| MJ | Men Junior. Races open for male riders under 18 years of age. | |
| Monuments | Five of the biggest one-day races with a long history and great prestige. These are Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia. | |
| MU | Men Under 23. Races open for male riders under 23 years of age. | |
| NAT | Races on national level | |
| NC | National Championships | |
| Ncup | UCI Nations Cup. There are two separate Nations Cup calendars: U23 and Junior. Top tier races for both male riders under 23 years of age and juniors. | |
| Neutral start | The initial phase of a race or stage where riders roll out together at a controlled pace set by race officials. During this phase, which can vary in length, riders are not allowed to attack. The neutral start ensures a safe and orderly beginning to the race before the actual competitive racing begins at KM-0. | |
| Official start | The point where the neutralized phase ends and competitive racing begins. At this moment, typically marked by a designated kilometer point (often KM-0) and/or a race commissaire waving a flag from the commissaires car, riders are allowed to accelerate, attack, and maneuver freely to gain position and assert their strategies for the race or stage ah | |
| OTL | Outside Time Limit. It refers to the rule that dictates a rider must finish a race or stage within a specified percentage of the winner's time to avoid being eliminated from the competition. Riders who finish outside this time limit are typically disqualified from continuing in the race. | |
| PCS | Pro Cycling Stats. That’s us! | |
| PCS National | Pro Cycling Stats’ department of non-professional results. This includes races not raced under UCI auspices. | more |
| Peloton | The main group of riders in a race. | |
| Point scale | Points are awarded to riders in a race based on their rank. For UCI races, we use the relevant UCI point scale for calculating UCI points and our own PCS point scales for PCS rankings. A separate point scale system is applied to national-level races. | |
| Points classification | A classification of points awarded to riders based on their finishing positions in intermediate sprints and stage finishes throughout a race or stage race. Leaders in the points classification often ride in a distinctive jersey, such as green in the Tour de France. | |
| Preliminary | Result or startlist not yet officially confirmed by the UCI (result) or race organiser (startlist). | |
| Pro win | Win on UCI .1 level and higher. | |
| Professional races | Races of UCI category .1 and up. This includes 1.1 one-day races, 2.1 stage races, 1.Pro (formerly 1.HC) one-day races, 2.Pro (formerly 2.HC) stage races, 1.UWT (formerly 1.PT & CDM) one-day races, and 2.UWT (formerly 2.PT) stage races. | |
| Professional riders | Riders with contracts in full-professional teams. This includes riders with contracts in WorldTour teams or ProTeams. Trainees are not considered professionals. | |
| Professional teams | Teams with a full professional license. This includes WorldTour teams and ProTour teams. | |
| ProfileScore | A method devised by Pro Cycling Stats to indicate the difficulty of the race/stage profile. Read more about ProfileScore here. | more |
| PRT | ProTeam, second tier UCI-registered teams. One level below WorldTeams, one level above Continental teams. | |
| QOM | Queen of the Mountains. Women's version of KOM. See 'KOM'. | |
| Red lantern | The last rider in the race or stage. This term is derived from the traditional practice of hanging a red lantern on the caboose of a train to signify its end. | |
| S# | Abbreviation for stage number. | |
| Stagiaire | A rider with a training contract with a UCI Continental, UCI ProTeam, or UCI WorldTeam. These training contracts may not start before August 1st and last until December 31st of the same year. | more |
| Striked race/stage | Race/stage planned in the UCI-calendar, but ultimately cancelled. | |
| Striked result | Rider finished the race in shown position, but was stripped of this result later due to a violation of UCI rules and regulations. | |
| Time limit | The maximum amount of time riders are allowed to finish a stage or race after the winner crosses the finish line. This limit is usually calculated based on a percentage of the winner's time. | |
| Timepoint | Specific locations along a race route where official times are recorded for individual riders or groups. These timepoints can include intermediate checkpoints during a time trial. | |
| Timesplit | The difference in time between two or more riders at a specific checkpoint or the finish line of a race or stage. It indicates how much one rider is ahead or behind another in terms of time. | |
| Trainee | See 'stagiaire'. | more |
| TT | Time trial. | |
| TTT | Team Time Trial. An discipline competed in teams. The team with the fastest time over a specified course wins. | |
| UCI | Union Cycliste Internationale. The international governing body for cycling. The UCI establishes rules and regulations for races and organizes the UCI Road World Championships. | |
| Unofficial start | See 'neutral start'. | |
| UWT | UCI World Tour, the highest level races for men's teams. | more |
| Vert. meters | Vertical meters. This indicates the amount of altitude gain during a stage/climb/specific distance. | |
| WJ | Women Junior. Races open for female riders under 18 years of age. | |
| WT | See 'UWT'. Also: WorldTeam, highest level UCI-registered men's teams | |
| WU | Women Under 23. Races open for female riders under 23 years of age. | |
| WWT | UCI Women’s World Tour, the highest level and teams races for women's teams. | more |