Organisers of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour announced Monday that the race is confirmed to take place from May 25-30, as part of the 2.ProSeries, and a key lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games next summer. In a press release, organisers also confirmed that more than 20 teams have already applied to participate in the six-day race.
"Next year, our tour will roll again. This will be possible because a large part of the sponsors have already promised us support for 2021 despite the difficult situation," said Vera Hohlfeld, the head of the event's organisation.
This year's Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour was supposed to start on May 26 but was shutdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus that halted the cycling season from March through beginning of August.
The 33rd edition of Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour will go ahead in May with a plan for 750 kilometres of racing over six days, starting and finishing in the same host cities that were cancelled this year.
There are minor changes to the order of the stage locations, including the start in Schmölln and the finale in Gotha.
The stages will also include visits to Gera (May 26), Schleiz (May 27), Dörtendorf with the partly 16 per cent steep final climb (May 28), as well as Weimar on May 29 with a circuit through Bad Berka and Ettersberg. The final route is to be confirmed in the coming weeks, organisers stated in a press release.
"Since we were already very far along in the planning for the canceled races last May, we are already very well prepared," Hohlfeld said.
The postponed Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8, making Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour a key stage race in the lead up to the Games.
"We notice that it is an Olympic year. We already have many inquiries from teams," said Hohlfeld.
The organisation confirmed that it will only invite 20 teams with six riders each, however more than 20 teams have already applied to compete including the new Jumbo-Visma women's team, Canyon-SRAM and Movistar Team Women.
