Cycling coronavirus news - When will the Tour de France happen; how would autumn Grand Tours work?
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Updated 15/04/2020 at 09:27 GMT
The future of the 2020 cycling season is in doubt, with the the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Spring Classic Monuments (Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders) all looking to be rescheduled due to the covid-19 pandemic. Eurosport analyse what could happen to the cycling calendar and assess the intentions of UCI chief David Lappartient.
Egan Bernal au pied de l'Arc-de-Triomphe.
Image credit: Getty Images
What has been cancelled?
All cycling races in France have been postponed until mid-July, which includes the Tour de France.
All four Monuments - Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders - and the majority of the Spring Classics were also postponed.
The Giro d’Italia, which was due to start on May 9, was one of the first major summer races to pull the plug.
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The 2019 Giro d'Italia
Image credit: Eurosport
What is happening with the Tour de France?
The Tour de France 2020 will be postponed to a later date after French president Emmanuel Macron said that all public events with large crowds would be cancelled until at least mid-July.
"Given that it's now impossible that the Tour starts at its planned date, we are consulting with the [International Cycling Union] to try and find new dates," race organisers had said earlier on Tuesday.
All rescheduled plans hinge on the development of the coronavirus pandemic and any events on new dates could yet be hit by further cancellations or restrictions.
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A Tour behind closed doors?
Early suggestions that the Tour could be run without fans appear to have been quashed by the race organisers.
French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu mused in March that:
"The economic model of the Tour de France is not based on ticketing but on TV rights. In this period of confinement, everyone is aware and responsible. Everyone understood the benefits of staying at home and therefore favouring the television show rather than the live show. Finally, it would not be so penalising since we could follow him [Le Tour] on television."
But that argument was primarily based on financial persuaders rather than sporting ones, and Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme clarified ASO's position in response to those remarks, saying:
The Tour de France is passion, enthusiasm and smiles above all. We must find the smiles. It will not take place behind closed doors.
An early-August Tour de France?
Spanish sports newspaper Marca is running reports that the Tour will run in early August, with one Grand Tour per month from August to October. The paper says:
The Tour de France is now scheduled in the first three weeks of August, the Vuelta a España in September and the Giro d'Italia in October.
However, an early-August scheduling leaves very little room for manoeuvre should the coronavirus implications on French sport extend beyond the current mid-July suspension.
This one-a-month Grand Tour plan also leaves little room for the Monuments or, perhaps more pertinently, the UCI's flagship World Championship week, which is currently scheduled to start on September 20.
A September Tour de France?
Reports elsewhere (notably in the Times of the UK and NOS of Holland) suggest that the Tour will instead run for three weeks starting on August 29.
British cycling journalist Matt Dickinson said:
Tour de France from Aug 29 to Sept 20, then worlds and an October Giro? That’s a hope when cycling returns.
There is one major stage-race missing from that list. More on that later...
A shortened Tour de France?
None of the Grand Tours are currently considering shortening their three-week schedules.
Mauro Vegni, organiser of the Giro d'Italia, told Marca:
They will be 3-3-3, never 3-2-2 or 3-3-2.
And those sentiments have been echoed by Vuelta chief Javier Guillen.
When could the Giro be rescheduled?
With limited space in the summer season and no stage racing likely before late-July at the earliest, the only feasible option to fit the races into 2020 would be to extend the racing calendar later into the autumn.
Fitting all of the postponed races into an expanded calendar would be tricky to say the least, but in late March Lappartient said that UCI current plan at that stage was to attempt to add the Giro and potentially also the Monuments into the October schedule if possible:
We're working with the organiser RCS to find a place for the Giro, undoubtedly in autumn. The possible avenues are a localised Giro, obviously redesigned too, and perhaps not of the same length. But the Giro, together with the postponed Classics, obviously forms part of our priorities, and we have high hopes of seeing it raced.
There is a natural deadline for the Giro, however. The weather in the mountainous regions of northern Italy mean that the race feasibly cannot go ahead any later than mid-October due to the increased risk of snowfall.
What about the Vuelta and World Championships?
The 2020 Vuelta a Espana is currently scheduled to start on August 14. However, organisers ASO also run the Tour de France and are likely to prioritise the French race.
The Vuelta could be moved into September if the Tour is run early in August, or it has even been suggested that the Vuelta could be held in November. However, with the Col du Tourmalet being one of the route's major climbs, a November date seems unfeasible given the snowfall during that time of year.
It is entirely feasible that the Vuelta could be cancelled in 2020, freeing up a gap between a rescheduled Tour and Giro in which to fit in the World Championships and any one-day races.
Speaking of the World Championships...
The rumoured new dates of the Tour would see it finishing in Paris on September 20, the same day as the men's time trial at the World Championships in Switzerland.
Although not ideal it is possible that the Worlds could carry on as planned with a less strong field in the men's time trial, but a more likely solution would be to see the week-long event compressed our bumped back a week. The UCI are unlikely to agree to a cancellation in order to accommodate postponed stage races.
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