Bad weather is sweeping the country, many are returning to work and New Year’s resolutions are already being broken.

But if you feel 2014 has not given you the best of starts, fear not – there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful in the coming months with some of the world’s best races coming to UK and Irish soil.

Belfast, Dublin, Leeds, Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge, London and Glasgow will all take centre stage in 2014, welcoming some of the world’s finest riders.

For the what, where, when, why and who, check out our reasons to be cheerful over the following pages.