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April 16, 2020

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Tour start pushed back to Aug 29

The Tour de France has new dates, and it will be followed by cycling’s two other major races.

Because of restrictions related to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the iconic race around France will now start on August 29 and finish on September 20. The Giro d’Italia and the Spanish Vuelta, cycling’s two other Grand Tours, will take place after the French race.

The International Cycling Union announced the Tour’s new dates yesterday after consulting with race organizer Amaury Sport Organization.

The race was originally scheduled to start on June 27.

It’s the first time since the end of World War II that the race is not starting in July.

“Holding this event in the best conditions possible is judged essential given its central place in cycling’s economy and its exposure,” the UCI said in a statement. “In particular for the teams that benefit on this occasion from unparalleled visibility.”

The race’s finish on the Champs-Elysees will coincide with the start of the rescheduled French Open tennis tournament a short distance away on the claycourts of Roland Garros in western Paris.

The Tour route will remain 99 percent unchanged with a Grand Depart from Nice and the traditional final parade on Champs-Elysees.

“The only thing we might have to change sometimes is when we go through bigger cities,” said race’s director Christian Prudhomme, who on Tuesday called 49 local politicians to inform them that the Tour dates had been changed.

French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe, who led last year’s race for long spells before fading to finish fifth, welcomed the news. “It’s great news and a great joy. To be honest, I was starting to lose a bit of hope,” he told France 2 television channel. “It’s a great source of motivation for the riders and it should give the French a lot of pleasure ... Whatever happens it will be a great celebration.”

Asked about potential safety measures due to the coronavirus outbreak, Prudhomme said the Tour organizers would adapt. “We will follow recommendations, just like we did for Paris-Nice in March. At the start, gatherings of more than 5,000 were banned and after a couple of days we had to adapt because the maximum was 1,000,” he noted.

The UCI also announced that the dates for the world championships will stay from September 20-27. They will be followed by the Giro, initially scheduled for May but previously called off, and the Spanish Vuelta, which is also owned by ASO and was to run from August 14-September 6. No official dates were yet given for those two races.

The UCI said all the prestigious one-day road classics, including the Paris-Roubaix over the cobblestones, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Milan-San Remo, will go ahead. Dates were not announced but the suspension of all races on the UCI calendar was extended one month to August 1.

Postponing the Tour dates became inevitable when French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that all public events with large crowds would be canceled until at least mid-July.

It is unclear, however, if the two-month delay will be enough. Macron extended France’s lockdown to at least May 11, and the race would send hundreds of riders and team staff from around the world traveling across the country for three weeks.

Borders would have to be open, too, so racers like last year’s winner — Colombian rider Egan Bernal — can travel to France.

Yesterday’s decisions were taken following a video conference meeting organized by the UCI, with all the principal representatives of professional road cycling consulted.

UCI President David Lappartient praised them “for their collaboration and their commitment in these difficult times.”

“We still have work to do to finalize the establishment of an entirely revised 2020 UCI International Calendar given the coronavirus pandemic that has shaken the world,” he said, “but a first very important step has been taken today.”




 

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