The 2021 Tour de France has been brought forward by one week by the International Cycling Union (UCI), with a kick-off set for June 26, which involves moving the site of the Grand Départ originally planned to Copenhagen. The UCI's decision is due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics for one year and the announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep the program unchanged between the start of the events fixed on July 23 and the end of the 8 August 2021. If the Tour was not advanced, the best riders in the world would have been forced to choose and would risk being forced to ignore the Olympics.
An alternative solution to the departure from Copenhagen, since the Danish capital cannot host the matches of the Euro football and the Tour at the same time, is represented by the candidature of the Brittany region, revealed last week. The mayor of Copenhagen, who has considered the hypothesis of a change of site, mentioned 2022 for a departure in his city.
35 events in 12 different countries
After the Professional Cycling Council meeting held on Tuesday, the UCI formalized the dates for the 2021 WorldTour calendar, with its 35 events in 12 different countries. “To avoid an overlap of the Olympic road cycling races (July 24, 25 and 28) with the Tour de France (initially scheduled for July 2 to 25), the French stage race will end on July 18, the weekend before the first weekend of the Olympics ”, confirmed the UCI. “As for the Vuelta, it will be held a week earlier than its usual dates, to allow a better transition between the Vuelta, the European Championships (announced for the weekend of September 11-12) and the world championships », Added the international federation.
The UCI also regretted that the organizers of the Tour of California (United States) and the Ride London (Gde-Bretagne), in two countries "important for high-level cycling", did not ask to register. their event on the 2021 WorldTour calendar. The next WorldTour will start in Australia on January 19, 2021.
The 2021 WorldTour calendar :
January 19 to 24: Tour Down Under (Australia)
January 31: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (Australia)
February 21 to 27: Tour of the Emirates (United Arab Emirates)
February 27: Het Nieuwsblad (Belgium)
6 March: Strade Bianche (Italy)
March 7 to 14: Paris-Nice (France)
March 10 to 16: Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)
March 20: Milan-Sanremo (Italy)
March 22 to 28: Tour de Catalogne (Spain)
24 March: Bruges - La Panne (Belgium)
March 26: E3 Classic (Belgium)
March 28: Ghent-Wevelgem (Belgium)
March 31: Across Flanders (Belgium)
April 4: Tour of Flanders (Belgium)
April 5 to 10: Tour of the Basque Country (Spain)
April 11: Paris-Roubaix (France)
April 18: Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands)
April 21: Flèche Wallonne (Belgium)
April 25: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium)
April 27 to 2 May: Tour de Romandie (Switzerland)
May 1: Eschborn Frankfurt (Germany)
May 8 to 30: Tour of Italy
May 30 to June 6: Critérium du Dauphiné (France)
June 6 to 13: Tour de Suisse
June 26 to July 18 t: Tour de France
July 31: Clasica San Sebastian (Spain)
July 9 to 15: Tour de Poland
August 14 to September 5: Tour of Spain
August 15: Cyclassics Hamburg (Germany)
August 22: Bretagne Classic Ouest-France (France )
August 30 to September 15: Binck Bank Tour (Belgium)
September 10: GP of Quebec (Canada)
September 12: GP of Montreal (Canada)
October 9: Tour of Lombardy (Italy)
October 14 to 19: Tour of Guangxi (China )
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