UCI Announces the Men's and Women's WorldTour Calendars for 2021
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has announced the 2021 calendars for the men’s and women’s WorldTour pro cycling races. Next year’s season will see 35 men’s races and 25 women’s races with revised dates to better accommodate the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, which is now set to begin July 23, 2021.
The 2021 World Tour season will kick off in Australia with the men’s Santos Tour Down Under from January 19 to 24, then the women’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on January 30 and the men’s edition on January 31. Both the men’s and women’s seasons will wrap up in China in mid-October with the Tour of Guangxi.
The announcement outlines new dates for the 2021 Tour de France, so that it no longer interferes with the Tokyo Olympics. The 2021 edition of the Tour de France was originally scheduled to start in Copenhagen on July 2 and end on July 25; the Tour will now end on July 18, a week before the Olympics begin. Specifically, the Olympic road races will be held on July 24, 25, and 28. La Course, the women’s race, will also be held July 18.
For now, the calendars look very much like those you’d see in a normal year, with the usual spring classics, Grand Tours, and more. The women’s Paris-Roubaix will also make its second appearance.
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Notably absent from the calendars, though, are WorldTour races in America. Since 2006, the U.S. hosted the Amgen Tour of California, but race organizers declared its indefinite “hiatus” late last year due to financial issues. Another WorldTour race not taking place next year is the men’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic in Great Britain.
The UCI also confirmed the cancelations of several races this fall due to coronavirus concerns: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in Canada, the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg in Germany, and the Boels Ladies Tour in the Netherlands.
The UCI will announce its international road calendar—including ProSeries, Class 1 and Class 2—in September, which should (depending on the coronavirus outbreak) include U.S. races such as the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, Winston Salem Cycling Classic in North Carolina, Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas, Tour of the Gila in New Mexico, Chrono Kristen Armstrong in Idaho, and the new Maryland Cycling Classic.
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