road race

American

[rohd reys] / ˈroʊd ˌreɪs /

noun

a race that is performed on paved roads.

State Street will be closed from noon to 5 p.m. for the running of the Governor’s Cup road race.
Last year’s champion driver appears to have lost this year’s Bordeaux-Paris road race.

Etymology

Origin of road race

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Olympic time-trial and road race champion finished the 12km course six seconds quicker than British rider Josh Tarling, with Frenchman Remi Cavagna in third.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

Andresen said he wanted to be on the wheel of his main rival Brennan in the final hectic finishing sprint in Sunday's 183.8 kilometre road race and relished his opportunity to have the last crack.

From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026

Thomas also won track gold at two Olympics - Beijing in 2008 and London 2012 - as well as road race gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

From BBC • Sep. 7, 2025

O’Connor estimates he has shot 13.5 million elementary school photos; Knight got into the Santa and Easter Bunny businesses and bought the road race photography company MarathonFoto.

From Slate • May 27, 2025

Look at the number of motor-cars now that followed the riders from town to town in a road race.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023