The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) today announces the 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.

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Since the interruption of the cycling season in March, an intensive consultation process involving the principal representatives of the families 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. These have been approved by the UCI Management Committee and, today, 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). Our 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, today, to communicate the dates, unanimously approved by the participants of the meetings, of the events on the revised 2020 calendars for the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women's WorldTour. However these dates, crucial for stakeholders, naturally remain subject to the lifting, until the end of the season, of the restrictions relating to the organisation 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

In agreement with all the stakeholders, 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) -, and the cancellation of six events at the request of their organisers 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).

Despite the constraints linked to the desire to maintain as many races as possible in a limited space of time, the new calendar obeys a logic which provides a maximum of opportunities for different types of riders: alternating stage races and one-day races in August, which will enable the riders to gradually readapt to the rhythm of competition after three months of limited activity for some; the Tour de France, UCI Road World Championships, Giro d'Italia, Ardennes and Flanders events; and to close the season, the Vuelta Ciclista a España. 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).

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. 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 this 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)

It is worthy of note that following a discussion initiated by the UCI, a new event organised by ASO will make its appearance in the 2020 UCI Women's WorldTour: the women's version of Paris-Roubaix. 

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."