The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) have announced new plans for a revised 2020 UCI International Road Calendar which would see the Tour de France take place from 29 August to 20 September. The 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland) retains their scheduled dates, 20-27 September and the Giro d’Italia would take place after the UCI Worlds and to be followed by the Vuelta Ciclista a España.
A video conference meeting was organised by the UCI in regard to the Covid-19 pandemic and the meeting also involved representatives from race organisers (AIOCC, and leaders of ASO, RCS, Unipublic and Flanders Classics), teams (AIGCP) and riders (CPA) where several decisions concerning the revision of the 2020 UCI International Road Calendar were unanimously agreed by the different parties concerned:
The key decisions made were:
• The period of suspension of competitions on the UCI International Road Calendar was extended by one month, until 1st July, and until 1st August for UCI WorldTour events.
• The Tour de France is postponed and will take place this year from 29 August to 20 September. 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.
• The 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland) are maintained at the scheduled dates, 20-27 September. The competition programme does not change.
• The Giro d’Italia will take place after the UCI Worlds and will be followed by the Vuelta Ciclista a España.
• The National Championships, organised by the National Federations, will take place on the weekend of 22-23 August.
• The UEC European Road Championships are maintained.
• The most prestigious one-day road races (the Monuments), ie Milano-Sanremo (Italy), the Tour des Flandres (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) and Il Lombardia (Italy), will all take place this season, at dates still to be defined.
• As many events as possible on the UCI International Calendar, and notably the UCI WorldTour, will be rescheduled later in the season.
The UCI also stated that they are continuing to work to be able to announce, on 15 May 2020 at the latest, a revised version of the UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar and a new version of the entire UCI International Calendar (men’s and women’s races across all cycling disciplines). The calendar, they stated, will nevertheless remain dependant on the world health situation.
The UCI President David Lappartient said: “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. 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. Likewise, 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. Together, we will manage to get through this crisis and rebuild cycling post-Covid-19.”
