The 2012 national road cycling championships began in New Zealand with the time trial event (both men and women) on January 6. On January 7 the Women's Road Race.
The winner of each national championship wears the national jersey in all their races for the next year in the respective discipline, apart from the World Championships and the Olympics, or unless they are wearing a category leader's jersey in a stage race. Most national champion jerseys tend to represent a country's flag or use the colours from it. Jerseys may also feature traditional sporting colours of a country that are not derived from a national flag, such as the National colours of Australia on the jerseys of Australian national champions.