Since early May, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has provided updates on the changes made to the road, mountain bike and, more recently, cyclo-cross calendars. As the UCI has stated, the new dates that have been announced are subject to developments in the ongoing global health crisis and the decisions made by the relevant authorities in the countries hosting UCI competitions.
The international governing body for cycling has now issued an update on the UCI events (UCI World Championships and World Cups) in various disciplines cancelled at the request of their local organizers.
Mountain bike
The Lenzerheide (Switzerland) and Les Gets (France) rounds of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, respectively scheduled for 4-6 and 19-20 September, have been cancelled at the request of the organizers.
The Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) and Val di Sole (Italy) rounds, which were initially due to be held on 21-23 August and 12-13 September respectively, have also been removed from the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar. Unfortunately, these competitions will not be rescheduled this year.
At the time of writing, the rounds at Nove Mesto na Morave (Czech Republic, 29 September to 4 October – a double XCO round), Maribor (Slovenia, 15-18 October – a double DHI round) and Lousã (Portugal, 29 October to 1 November – a double DHI round) are still scheduled to go ahead.
UCI notes that ‘the staging of two rounds on the same weekend will give athletes, teams and national federations increased visibility, reduce the logistical costs they face and ensure the continuation of the competition.’
The 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes-Benz in cross-country, downhill and pump track are currently scheduled to take place on 5-11 October in Leogang (Austria).
The 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Championships are slated for 23 August 2020 in Leuven (Belgium).
The 2020 UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championships, which were due to be held in Pra Loup (France), have been cancelled, as have the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Four-cross World Championships in Val di Sole (Italy).
The 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships are still scheduled to go ahead, on 24-25 October, in Sakarya, Turkey.
Moving on to the 2020 UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup, the round due to be held in Barcelona (Spain) on 2-3 October has been cancelled. Having initially been scheduled for 17-18 April and 5-6 June respectively and then postponed, the Locarno (Switzerland) and Bologna (Italy) rounds have also been cancelled.
Gran Fondo
Due to be held in Vancouver (Canada) on 9-12 September, the 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships have been cancelled at the request of the organizers. Although a number of other options were considered, the UCI regrets to announce that there will be no UCI Gran Fondo World Championships this season.
‘We are working with our partner Golazo to set up a qualification system for 2021 that considers the places that had been secured for this year’s now-cancelled UCI World Championships.’
Indoor cycling
Discussions are continuing with the organizers of the 2020 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships, scheduled for Stuttgart (Germany) on 27-29 November. As for the UCI World Cups in the discipline, to date the final of the UCI Cycle-ball World Cup will go ahead as planned on 27-29 November in Prague (Czech Republic), as will the final of the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup, to be held on 21 November in Albstadt (Germany). The St Gallen (Switzerland) round planned 10 October is still running for the time being.
Para-cycling
As already announced by the UCI, the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships have been cancelled, as is unfortunately the case with the two rounds of the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup.
Track cycling
The 2020 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships, which were due to be held in Cairo (Egypt) on 16-21 August are cancelled. However, the same venue will host the 2021 edition in April (on dates to be confirmed) instead of Tel Aviv (Israel), which the organizers have accepted to postpone to 2022.
Road
The 2020 UCI Road World Championships scheduled to take place in Aigle-Martigny, Switzerland, from 20-27 September should go ahead, following recent announcements by the Swiss Federal Council and discussions with the organizing committee and all the event stakeholders.
Finally, the UCI would like to specify that the 2019 UCI World Champions in the disciplines for which the 2020 UCI World Championships are cancelled will keep their rainbow jerseys until the next edition.
UCI President David Lappartient said “Spring has been very difficult for cycling, but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the first road races taking place in July and the resumption of the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour expected in August.
“However, as we have always said, the restart of the season, whatever the discipline, will depend on the evolution of the health situation in the organizing countries. Several competitions scheduled for the second half of the year 2020 had to be cancelled because the conditions for their good organization were not met.
“This may mean that the UCI World Championships in some disciplines will not be held this year. This is a great disappointment, but the health of the athletes and all those involved in our events, or simply present at them, is our top priority.”
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