The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has announced revised 2020 calendars for the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour, with a ‘view to the resumption of the cycling season, halted due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic which has struck most of the world.’
Since the interruption of the cycling season in March, an intensive consultation process involving the principal representatives of men’s and women’s professional road cycling – organizers, teams and riders – has been carried out at the initiative of the UCI in order to draw up new calendars.
Following discussions initiated by the UCI, a new event organized by ASO will make its appearance in the 2020 UCI Women’s WorldTour: the women’s version of Paris-Roubaix.
All men’s and women’s pro races have been approved by the UCI Management Committee and by the stakeholders of men’s professional road cycling via the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), which has ‘exclusive competence over the UCI WorldTour calendar.’
Given the evolution of the world health situation, on 15 April the UCI decided to extend the suspension period of competitions on the UCI International Road Calendar until 1st July (until 1st August for races on the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour calendars).
The federation also committed to revealing the new calendars before 15 May. After several weeks of discussions and collection of feedback – including from health authorities of concerned countries, the UCI feels it now has enough information to be able to communicate the revised 2020 calendars.
‘However these dates, crucial for stakeholders, naturally remain subject to the lifting, until the end of the season, of the restrictions relating to the organization of events put in place by the authorities in the concerned territories. We note that the situation is a changing one, which could mean the UCI may need to adjust the calendar to take into account the development of the pandemic.’
UCI WorldTour
The UCI has established a revised 2020 UCI WorldTour which will start with the Strade Bianche on 1st August and finish with the Vuelta Ciclista a España on 8 November. The series will include 25 events, after the five events held at the beginning of the season – Santos Tour Down Under (Australia), Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (Australia), UAE Tour (United Arab Emirates), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite (Belgium) and Paris-Nice (France).
Six events were cancelled at the request of their organizers due to the effects of the pandemic – E3 BinckBank Classic (Belgium), Tour de Romandie (Switzerland), Tour de Suisse (Switzerland), Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Spain), Itzulia Basque Country (Spain) and Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa (Spain).
Featuring among the 25 events in revised 2020 calendar are 17 one-day races, including the five Monuments (Milano-Sanremo, Tour des Flandres, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia) and eight stage races, including the three Grands Tours.
Regarding the Grands Tours, the length of the Vuelta Ciclistica a España (20 October – 8 November) has been shortened by one weekend at the request of the organizer, Unipublic, which has received confirmation from the authorities of the city of Utrecht that the conditions cannot be met for a Grand Depart in the Netherlands.
The length of the Giro d’Italia remains unchanged. The UCI also highlights that it has been possible to find space in the calendar for almost all the other UCI WorldTour events whose organizers did not request cancellation due to the health crisis.
The new dates of events on the 2020 UCI WorldTour calendar are as follows:
1st August: Strade Bianche (Italy)
5-9 August: Tour de Pologne (Poland)
8 August: Milano-Sanremo (Italy)
12-16 August: Critérium du Dauphiné (France)
16 August: Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (Great Britain)
25 August: Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France (France)
29 August -20 September : Tour de France (France)
7-14 September: Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)
11 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec (Canada)
13 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (Canada)
29 September -3 October: BinckBank Tour
30 September: La Flèche Wallonne (Belgium)
3-25 October: Giro d’Italia (Italy)
4 October: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium)
10 October: Amstel Gold Race (the Netherlands)
11 October: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)
14 October: A Travers la Flandre (Belgium)
15-20 October: Gree – Tour of Guangxi (China)
18 October: Tour des Flandres (Belgium)
20 October – 8 November: Vuelta Ciclista a España (Spain)
21 October: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (Belgium)
25 October: Paris-Roubaix (France)
31 October: Il Lombardia (Italy)
Dates to be confirmed: EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg (Germany) and Eschborn-Frankfurt (Germany).
The National Championships should take place from 20 to 23 August. However, their dates will be subject to the possibility of national federations being able to organize their events in August.
Commenting on the revised calendar for the UCI WorldTour, 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 1st August. This is a very important step that the entire cycling community, financially impacted by the pandemic, has been waiting for to move forward.
“I would like to acknowledge the spirit of solidarity and responsibility shown by all players – in this respect I thank Unipublic which accepted to reduce the length of the Vuelta Ciclista a España – and the courage that the families of professional cycling have demonstrated in these difficult times. 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.”
UCI Women’s WorldTour
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – Elite Women’s Race (Australia) is the only event of the 2020 UCI Women’s WorldTour that was able to take place before the coronavirus spread worldwide and brought the cycling season to a stop.
The health crisis has taken a heavy toll on the major series for women’s professional road cycling with three events cancelled: Women’s WorldTour Ronde van Drenthe (the Netherlands), Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio (Italy) and OVO Energy Women’s Tour (Great Britain).
The revised UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar will start on 1st August with the Strade Bianche and finish on 8 November with the Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta (Spain). The 2020 series will include 18 events: 13 one-day races and five stage races.
The new dates of events on the 2020 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar are as follows:
1st August: Strade Bianche (Italy)
8 August: Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden TTT (Sweden)
9 August: Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden RR (Sweden)
13-16 August: Ladies Tour of Norway (Norway)
26 August: GP de Plouay – Lorient Agglomération Trophée WNT (France)
29 August: La Course by Le Tour de France (France)
1-6 September: Boels Ladies Tour (the Netherlands)
11-19 September: Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile (Italy)
30 September: La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (Belgium)
4 October: Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (Belgium)
10 October: Amstel Gold Race Ladies (the Netherlands)
11 October: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)
18 October : Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium)
20 October: Tour of Guangxi Women’s WorldTour (China)
20 October: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (Belgium)
23-25 October: Tour of Chongming Island (China)
25 October: Paris-Roubaix (France)
6-8 November: Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta (Spain)
Following a discussion initiated by the UCI, a new event organized by ASO will make its appearance in the 2020 UCI Women’s WorldTour: the women’s version of Paris-Roubaix.
Concerning the new UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar, UCI President David Lappartient added, “We have established a 2020 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar that is as coherent as possible, alternating one-day races and stage races, and maintaining the circuit’s major events, notably the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile and the Classics.
“The new calendar will preserve the exceptional character of the 2020 season, marked by the professionalization of women’s road cycling with the introduction of UCI Women’s WorldTeams and new major measures such as a minimum salary for cyclists in these teams, live TV coverage of all events in the series and the integration of a women’s version of Paris-Roubaix, at the initiative of the UCI in collaboration with ASO.
“As with men’s racing, I would like to thank the representatives of women’s riders and teams, as well as organizers, for their constructive spirit in the discussions which enabled us to draw up, together, this revised calendar in the extremely difficult context of the coronavirus pandemic.”
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