The UCI announced Friday that 34 events have been cancelled, so far, from the men's and women's 2021 UCI International Road Calendar due to COVID-19. The sport governing body distributed a working-calendar of cancelled events, but stated that 24 of the currently cancelled events have requested later dates in the season.
"As of today, 38 events have been cancelled in 2021 at men’s and women’s professional level (Class 1 and above). While some of these are definitively cancelled and will not take place before 2022, others have requested to be rescheduled to a later date in 2021," as outlined in the UCI's press release.
"This is the case of 24 events. The UCI will review the requests of these organisers in close collaboration with the different parties concerned. It will set the new dates with a view to the overall coherence of the calendar and in the general interest of cycling, then will communicate its decisions by the end of March at the latest."
The UCI and representatives of organisers (AIOCC), teams (AIGCP) and riders (CPA) met on Thursday for a video conference organised by the sport governing body, to discuss the current status of the 2021 UCI International Road Calendar in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a press release.
The UCI has provided a calendar, which it will update every two weeks, of the status of events being cancelled, postponed, and any new dates. In addition, Cyclingnews has an on-going calendar that lists the status of events for 2021.
The men's and women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Santos Tour Down Under, Race Torquay and Herald Sun Tour, were cancelled after the pandemic made it difficult for teams to travel to Australia for the January and February races.
There have also been a series of cancellations including, Vuelta CV Feminas and Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, Circuit Cycliste Sarthe – Pays de la Loire, Tour Colombia, Vuelta a San Juan, Tour de Langkawi, Tour of Antalya, RideLondon Classique and Tour de Yorkshire. Other cancellations include Volta Limburg, Volta a la Comunidad de Madrid, Taxc Pro Classic and Halle Ingooigem.
Volta ao Algarve and Vuelta a Andalucía have requested postponements, as have Mallorca Challenge events, Tour of Oman, Saudi Tour, Tour de Rwanda, Grand Prix de Denain - Porte du Hainaut, Volta a la Comunidad Valenciana, Vuelta Ciclista de la Region de Murcia, Tour de Taiwan, Ronde van Drenthe, Itzulia Basque Country, Ocean Championships, Greek Monuments Tour, the Women's Tour, which have all requested later dates.
Racing has gotten underway at some road events including Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise, Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard, Tour de la Provence, Clásica de Almería, and will resume at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, UAE Tour this week. The women's peloton is expected to begin racing at Omloop Het Nieuwsbald on February 27.
