In 2009 a number of prominent riders returned to professional cycling. Ivan Basso, Floyd Landis and Michele Scarponi had finished a suspension. Bjorn Leukemans was without a team for over a year due to doping-related allegations, which were proven to be ungrounded. Most notably, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong returned after a three-and-half year break, starting his season as a -rider in the Tour Down Under.
The teams and, both who were connected to some major doping cases in 2008, saw their title sponsors drop out. The Spanish squad found a new sponsor in Fuji Bikes and was granted another ProTour license as . However, race organizer ASO did not invite the team for their races, and they did not participate in the Tour de France. New teams in the ProTour are from the United States and (built from the former) from Russia. One notable new Pro Continental team, started from scratch, is the, which managed to sign 2008 Tour de France-winner Carlos Sastre and Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd. Like another new Pro Continental team, from the Netherlands, Katusha and Cervélo immediately proved successful in the early months of the season.
This year's World Championships will be held in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
The UCI ProTour ranking, which was heavily devalued in 2008 due to the withdrawal from the ProTour by the three Grand Tour organizers, was replaced by the UCI World Ranking, based on a new World Calendar - effectively combining the existing 14 ProTour races with the Monuments and Grand Tours that are currently organized as "Historic" races.
The World Road championships were held in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championship Road Race | Sep 26 | ||||
| World Championship Time Trial | Sep 23 |
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | May 9 - May 31 | ||||
 Tour de France | Jul 4 - Jul 26 | ||||
 Vuelta a España | Aug 29 - Sep 20 |
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tour Down Under | Jan 20 - Jan 25 | ||||
 Tour of Flanders / Tour des Flandres | April 5 | ||||
| Vuelta al País Vasco | Apr 6 - Apr 11 | ||||
| Gent–Wevelgem | Apr 8 | ||||
 Amstel Gold Race | Apr 19 | ||||
 Tour de Romandie | Apr 28 - May 3 | ||||
| Volta a Catalunya | May 18 - May 24 | ||||
| Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré | Jun 7 - Jun 14 | ||||
| Tour de Suisse | Jun 13 - Jun 21 | ||||
| Clásica de San Sebastián | Aug 1 | ||||
 Tour de Pologne | Aug 2 - Aug 8 | ||||
 Vattenfall Cyclassics | Aug 16 | ||||
 Eneco Tour | Aug 18 - Aug 25 | ||||
| GP Ouest-France | Aug 23 |
These races contribute, along with the Grand Tours and the UCI ProTour races, towards the 2009 UCI World Ranking
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris–Nice | Mar 9 - Mar 16 | ||||
| Tirreno–Adriatico | Mar 11 - Mar 17 | ||||
| Milan – San Remo | Mar 21 | ||||
| Paris–Roubaix | Apr 12 | ||||
| La Flèche Wallonne | Apr 22 | ||||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Apr 26 | ||||
| Giro di Lombardia | Oct 17 |
The prefix 2 indicates that these events are stage races.
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tour de Langkawi | Feb 9 - Feb 15 | ||||
 Tour of California | Feb 14 - Feb 22 | ||||
| Critérium International | Mar 28 - Mar 29 | ||||
| Three Days of De Panne | Mar 31 - Apr 2 | ||||
| Four Days of Dunkirk | May 6 - May 11 | ||||
| Tour of Belgium | May 27 - May 31 | ||||
| Bayern-Rundfahrt | May 27 - May 31 | ||||
| Tour de Luxembourg | Jun 3 - Jun 7 | ||||
 Tour of Austria | July 5 - July 12 | ||||
 Tour of Qinghai Lake | July 17–26 | ||||
| Tour de Wallonie | July 25 - July 29 | ||||
 Tour of Denmark | July 29 - Aug 2 | ||||
| Vuelta a Burgos | Aug 5 - Aug 9 | ||||
 Volta a Portugal | Aug 5 - Aug 16 | ||||
| Tour of Missouri | Sep 7 - Sep 13 |
The prefix 1 indicates that these events are one-day races.
| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | Feb 28 | ||||
| E3 Prijs Vlaanderen | Mar 29 | ||||
| GP Miguel Indurain | Apr 4 | ||||
| Scheldeprijs | Apr 15 | ||||
| Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop | May 1 | ||||
| Dutch Food Valley Classic | May 16 | ||||
| Grand Prix of Aargau Canton | Jun 7 | ||||
| Philadelphia International Championship | Jun 7 | ||||
| Tre Valli Varesine | Aug 18 | ||||
| Giro del Veneto | Aug 29 | ||||
| Paris-Bruxelles | Sep 12 | ||||
| GP de Fourmies | Sep 13 | ||||
| Giro dell'Emilia | Oct 10 | ||||
| Paris–Tours | Oct 11 | ||||
| Giro del Piemonte | Oct 15 |
See 2009 national cycling championships.