Cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has announced its updated race calendar for the 2020 season in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.
The Giro d’Italia has been scheduled for October 3-25, and the new dates overlap with the one day classics Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Gent-Wevelgem, and Amstel Gold Race, as well as the opening week of the Vuelta a España.
The length of the Vuelta a España (October 20 – November 8) has been shortened to 18 stages at the request of the organizer, Unipublic. The start has been moved from Utrecht, Netherlands to Irun, in the Basque region of the country.
The Tour de France will retain it’s full 21 days of racing, the start has been moved to Nice, while UCI Road World Championships in Aigle-Martigny are still scheduled to take place in Switzerland, September 20 – 27.
UCI President David Lappartient said, “we have drawn up a solid, attractive and varied new calendar that is as realistic and coherent as possible. This has been achieved as early as was practicable and in line with information available today concerning the evolution of the pandemic. Riders, teams, and organizers now have the dates they need to anticipate the resumption of racing on August 1st. This is a very important step that the entire cycling community, financially impacted by the pandemic, has been waiting for to move forward.”
Optimistic about the remainder of 2020, Lappartient continued, “we will continue to move forward together towards the resumption of the season, nevertheless with the reminder that the health of riders and all concerned parties is still the overriding priority, and that the recommencement of our activities will remain dependent on the evolution of the world health situation.”
New on the women’s calendar is the women’s version of Paris-Roubaix. Women will also have the possibility to tackle the “Hell of the North”.
While the Tour de France will retain it’s full 21 days of racing, the start has been moved to Nice.
The Aigle-Martigny 2020 UCI Road World Championships are still scheduled to take place in Switzerland, September 20 – 27.
UCI President David Lappartient said, “We have drawn up a solid, attractive and varied new calendar that is as realistic and coherent as possible. This has been achieved as early as was practicable and in line with information available today concerning the evolution of the pandemic. Riders, teams, and organizers now have the dates they need to anticipate the resumption of racing on August 1st. This is a very important step that the entire cycling community, financially impacted by the pandemic, has been waiting for to move forward.”
Optimistic about the remainder of 2020, Lappartient continued, “We will continue to move forward together towards the resumption of the season, nevertheless with the reminder that the health of riders and all concerned parties is still the overriding priority, and that the recommencement of our activities will remain dependent on the evolution of the world health situation.”
In an effort to provide the maximum opportunity for different types of riders, as well as allow riders to prepare for the grand tours and World Championships, the UCI has scheduled shorter stage races and one-day races in August, in the lead-up to a compressed three months of racing, which includes the three grand tours, world championships, and the monuments.
Additionally, the UCI is recommending that national federations should schedule their road championships for the weekend prior to the Tour de France, while the reorganization of the calendar to accommodate other events — UCI ProSeries, Class 1, Class 2, UCI Nations’ Cups, Under-23 and Junior categories — will be reviewed with consultation with national federations, and announced on and around May 20th.
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