The biggest sports events of 2015

From January 15 to February 1, the best handball players in the world will be put to the test in Qatar. The field of potential title-winners is pretty big, with defending champ Spain and current European Champions France among the front runners. Germany was only able to qualify as a wildcard, and they'll face Denmark, Poland, and Russia in Group D.

The 49th edition of the final game of the American football season will take place on February 1, 2015. The highlight of the NFL season is one of the single biggest sporting events in the world, and the game regularly breaks television viewing records. This year's contest will be played in at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

The Rocky Mountain resort town of Vail, Colorado will host the Alpine Skiing World Championships in February. Medals are up for grabs in the slalom, giant slalom, downhill, Alpine combined and Super G competitions. Now that German legend Maria Höfl-Riesch has retired, the best chances for a German medal lie with slalom specialist Felix Neureuther and giant slalom Olympic champ Viktoria Rebensburg.

In February and March, the title will be up for grabs in a sport that half the world passionately follows and the other half doesn't understand. Australia and New Zealand belong to the former category, and fans there will be fully involved in cricket World Cup fever. At the last tournament, a semi-final between India and Pakistan is believed to have drawn a billion viewers worldwide.

The Masters in the US state of Georgia is actually one of four major golf tournaments, but it's only in Augusta that the winner gets the famous green jacket. Thousands of fans line the greens and fairways and turn the annual tournament into a world-class sporting event every April. Last year, US golfer Bubba Watson picked up his second tournament win, after taking the title in 2012.

While Serena Williams picks up most of the important titles on the women's side, competition at the top of the men's competition has gotten much tougher. Novak Djokovic (pictured), Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are all worthy opponents for each other on any given day. But, will one of them be able to win in Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon, and New York to claim the Grand Slam title?

On June 6, Berlin's Olympic Stadium is the venue for the final of this year's Champions League. The German clubs in the competition are all eager to contest the final in their capital, and Bayern Munich is one of the favorites. But defending champs Real Madrid would love to play spoilsport: in 2014, they knocked Bayern out in the semi-finals and went on to beat Atletico Madrid for the title.

The last women's World Cup in 2011 in Germany ended in disappointment for local fans, after the hosts lost in the quarter-finals to Japan. But, the Germans have since won the European title and will head to Canada in June looking to follow up on their success. The games will be played on artificial turf: a situation that some players have already complained about.

It's a climber's year in the 102nd Tour de France. In the three week race in June, there's only one time trial but seven mountain stages. The final climb on the penultimate day will take riders up the Alpe d'Huez. All told, the cyclists have 3,344 kilometers (2,077 miles) to pedal through. German cyclists Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb and Tony Martin will be looking for stage victories.

The German city of Aachen is hosting a landmark edition of the European Championship in the riding disciplines: for the first time, the European Championship in five horseback riding disciplines will be contested at a single tournament. The events on display from August 11-23 are jumping, dressage, reining, driving and vaulting.

Just as the leaves start to change in September and early October, England and Wales will host the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup. The tournament will take place in 12 stadiums, including London's Olympic Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Hosts England will be looking for their second title after winning in 2003. New Zealand will hope to defend their title from 2011.

The toughest endurance athletes on the globe will again flock to Hawaii in October to test their mettle in one of the hardest challenges in sports: 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling and a full marathon to finish. German athletes did well in the 2014 Ironman, with Sebastian Kienle winning, Jan Frodeno taking third, and Nils Frommerhold picking up sixth.

Germany's Fabian Hambüchen will be looking to get back to the top of his game with a medal at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The event is set to take place in Glasgow in October and November and rounds off a busy year in international sport.