CIC Mont Ventoux cancelled for 2024, Tour of Turkey moves back to April
French one-day race off the calendar due to Olympic torch relay date clash
The CIC Mont Ventoux one-day race won't be on the calendar next year due to the passing of the Olympic torch relay in June.
The ProSeries level race, which was founded in 2019 as the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, sees the peloton tackle two ascents of the famous Provence mountain.
It usually runs during the third weekend of June, but organisers have announced that the 2024 edition has been cancelled with the Olympic torch passing through the area and up the mountain on June 19.
Race organisers stated that "attention and resources" taken up by the passing of the flame has meant that it isn't feasible to run the race.
"The CIC Mont Ventoux will not take place in 2024 due to the passing of the Olympic torch relay in the Vaucluse department on June 19, which diverts attention and resources during this period and will now allow for the optimal organisation of our event," read a statement issued by the organisers. "The race will be organised in 2025."
Nicolas Garcera, the CIC Mont Ventoux general director, stated that race's sportive would not be affected, while also thanking sponsor CIC, the UCI, and the French National Cycling League for their continued support.
"I would like to thank our title partner, the CIC, which maintains its commitments alongside us for the next editions and will be present during our events for the general public in 2024," he said.
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"We are proud to have the continued confidence of the [UCI] and the National Cycling League, which will allow us to retain the UCI ProSeries label, the second tier for professional races, in 2025."
The race has been run since 2019, moving up from 1.1 ranking to 1.Pro in 2023, where 20-year-old neo-pro Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) took his first pro win ahead of Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) at the end of a weather-hit, shortened 98.3km edition. Previous winners of the race include Aleksandr Vlasov and Miguel Angel López.
In other 2024 calendar news, organisers of the Tour of Turkey have announced that the week-long stage race will move back to April next year having been postponed to October due to the major earthquake in the south of the country in February.
The race, which will feature eight stages for the fourth year in a row and move back to the ProSeries, will be held from April 21-28, a slightly later slot than it was previously held.
"Following the successful 2023 edition, which was postponed to October, the TUR has retained its place on the UCI ProSeries calendar and, as in previous years, has taken its place among the major spring races in April," read a statement issued by the organisers.
"The 59th Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye will take place on 21-28 April as a ProSeries race on the 2024 UCI calendar."
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) won the postponed 2023 race, beating Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe) by 26 seconds after a major showdown on the steep slopes of the stage 3 Babadag climb. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) dominated the sprints to take home four stage wins and the points jersey.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.