Cycling news: Giro, Vuelta and Paris-Roubaix all set for race-packed October 25 - all the keys dates

ByEurosport

Updated 05/05/2020 at 16:11 GMT

A race-packed October is set to be headlined by the last Sunday of the month - October 25 - with Paris-Roubaix, the final stage of the Giro and the fifth stage of the Vuelta all set to take place.

Giro, Vuelta and Paris-Roubaix all set for race-packed October 25

Image credit: Eurosport

The UCI published its revised calendar on Tuesday, with October 25 immediately standing out as a remarkable day of racing.

Racing was brought to an abrupt halt in March in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that swept the world, but the revised calendar has provided what promises to be an action-packed day.

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The day marks the first-ever running of the ‘Hell of the North’ - Paris-Roubaix – on the Women’s UCI WorldTour, meaning there will be four elite-level races staged on the same day.

The calendar begins on August 1, with the running of Strade Bianche and concludes on November 8 with the final stages of Vuelta a Espana and Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta on the men’s and women’s calendars respectively.

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WHAT OTHER NEWS FROM THE REVISED CALENDAR?

The Giro d'Italia will start on October 3 and finish on October 25, while the Vuelta will be held from October 20 and run through until November 8, meaning the two Grand Tours will overlap one another.

The Tour de France remains pencilled in for August 29 to September 20, although French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu stated on Tuesday that "there is no guarantee that the Tour de France will go ahead this year".

There are a number of the top one-day races will also be held in October, with four of the five Monuments taking place during the Giro, making for a frantic month of cycling.

Milan-Sanremo will be held on August 8, Liege-Bastogne-Liege on October 4, the Tour of Flanders on October 18, Paris-Roubaix on October 25 and Il Lombardia on October 31, with the UCI Cycling Road World Championships set to run from 20 September to 27 September.

The UCI Cycling Road World Championships set to run from 20 September to 27 September, starting just a day after the Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile which will run from September 11 to September 19.

ANYTHING ELSE?

The UCI, in a statement on their website, have urged caution regarding the calendar. Basically, it is still very much subject to change considering the changing nature of the coronavirus pandemic. Here is the key line.

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.

NUMBER OF RIDERS PER TEAM

The UCI has relaxed its regulations on the number of riders per team due to the exceptional circumstances, as per the UCI statement:

for UCI WorldTour stage races, the number of riders per team will remain 8 for the Grand Tours, and 7 for other UCI WorldTour stage races
concerning UCI WorldTour one-day races, the number of riders per team will be 6 or 7 (instead of the compulsory 7) in line with the organiser’s choice: if the organiser opts for 7 riders, teams will be able to have 6 riders at the start if they wish; on the other hand, if the organiser opts for teams of 6 riders, teams must comply with this choice; the organiser much receive the agreement of the Professional Cycling Council to reduce the number of riders from 7 to 6;
concerning UCI Women’s WorldTour events, the maximum number of riders can be fixed at 5 (compared to 6 or 7 usually). This measure will enable organisers to invite more teams (a maximum of 26 compared to 24 normally).