New dates have been set for major events in the 2020 UCI International Road Calendar that were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The revised calendar follows a video conference held between the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the principal representatives of professional road cycling teams, riders and organisers.
“I would like to pay tribute to the representatives of the organisers, teams and riders for their collaboration and their commitment in these difficult times,” said UCI president David Lappartient.
“We still have work to do to finalise the establishment of an entirely revised 2020 UCI international calendar given the coronavirus pandemic that has shaken the world, but a first very important step has been taken today.”
The conference decided the period of suspension of competitions on the international road calendar would be extended by one month, until July 1, and until August 1 for WorldTour events.
They agreed that cycling’s most iconic event, the Tour de France, would now only take place from August 29 to September 20, a delay of two months.
“Holding this event in the best conditions possible is judged essential given its central place in cycling’s economy and its exposure, in particular for the teams that benefit on this occasion from unparalleled visibility,” Lappartient said.
The UCI Road World Championships will take place as scheduled from September 20 to 27, after which the Giro d’Italia will take place, followed by the Vuelta a Espana.
It was also decided that national championships organised by the national federations will take place on the weekend of August 22 to 23.
Also retaining its scheduled dates is the UEC European Road Championships.
Dates are still to be fixed for prestigious one-day road races such as Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia.
As many events as possible on the international calendar, and notably the WorldTour, will be rescheduled later in the season.
A revised version of the women’s WorldTour calendar is set to be announced on May 15 at the latest, as well as a new version of the entire international calendar. However the calendar will depend on the world health situation.
“We have established a framework that will allow the fundamental rights of teams’ riders and staff to be preserved while enabling the measures necessary for the survival of these teams to be taken,” said Lappartient.
“Together, we will manage to get through this crisis and rebuild cycling post-Covid-19.”
