UCI president David Lappartient says that cycling's governing body is working closely with the teams, riders and race organisers to design a new professional road racing calendar that will be able to fit in some of the sport's biggest events, after most spring races been postponed, and others likely to be moved as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
In a Facebook message to the cycling community, Lappartient also said that the UCI is working closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for clarity on the qualification process for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which now look likely to take place during the northern-hemisphere spring or summer of 2021.
"It's a wise decision, and we support the decision of the International Olympic Committee," Lappartient said of the Games' postponement, which was announced last week.
"We are working with them daily to evaluate the consequences for the qualification of the athletes, for their preparation, for the calendar in the years to come, and in particular for 2021," he said. "You can count on the UCI to have a constructive dialogue with the IOC in this difficult period."
Lappartient reiterated that many riders around the world remain in confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic, and, as such, are only allowed to train indoors on a home trainer. The question of when they may be able to once again train normally, and subsequently race, remains impossible to answer.
"We're also working on the road-cycling calendar, which is not easy," Lappartient said.
"I have started discussions with the teams, the organisers, and of course the athletes. We're going to try to find the best solution without extending the season beyond what is reasonable, but [by] giving a date on which the season can resume – a date that we do not know at the moment, given the measures in place.
"We will try to protect what makes the richness of our sport – of course in road cycling, the Grand Tours and the Monuments – for both men and women," he said.
"We will work to find the best solutions and ensure that we can reconstruct a solid calendar for the end of the season and to rediscover the passion that we all love."
However, Lappartient pointed out that the priority remains "the protection of the population, the respect of the rules, to avoid the crisis spreading further".
"So you can count on the UCI to work during this period and to come back rapidly with projects for the calendars that will enable us, we hope, to rediscover our favourite sport for the second part of the season," he said.
