New dates for Algarve, Andalucía, Ronde van Drenthe in revised 2021 calendars

One year on from mass cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UCI announced on Thursday the revised 2021 road calendars, with 70 races postponed and 60 cancelled events for the year so far. 

It's a vast improvement from 2020, when hundreds of races, including the Olympic Games and Paris-Roubaix, were called off or postponed. In all, half of the women's WorldTour and 66 days of racing in the men's WorldTour did not happen last season.

The picture is more optimistic in 2021, although the first races of the year - the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Races - truncated the start of the WorldTour for men and women, respectively. All of the remaining men's and women's WorldTour events have either kept their original dates or been given revised dates later in the season.

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The Women's WorldTour has lost the RideLondon Classique and the new Itzulia stage race but gained the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa (July 31). The Ronde van Drenthe, postponed from March 14 into a new date on October 23, is now the final race in the series. Other date shifts include moving the Women's Tour from June to October 4-9 and the Tour of Chongming Island from May to October 14-16.

The men's WorldTour calendar is unchanged except for the move of the one-day Eschborn-Frankfurt, which was cancelled in 2020, from May 1 to September 19.

Eschborn-Frankfurt race director Claude Rach explained,  "Unfortunately, May 1st comes a bit too soon this year for the German Classic. It is not yet the time for such a diverse event as Eschborn-Frankfurt, that includes around 5 000 amateur riders of the ŠKODA Velotour. From today it is exactly six months until September 19th. We are confident that we will then celebrate an anniversary with all the ingredients that make up the German Classic."

Should further postponements be necessary, the UCI has extended the road season to October 31.

"I thank the different stakeholders of men's and women's professional road cycling for their collaboration," UCI President David Lappartient said. "Together, we have managed to establish a coherent revised calendar that suits the concerned parties. 

"I would also like to point out that the UCI WorldTour and the UCI Women's WorldTour, which bring together the biggest men's and women's one-day races and stage races, have already seen some major events take place. The 2021 editions of these two series look promising. This success can be credited to the measures taken by the UCI, in collaboration with organisers, teams and riders, to ensure the season can go ahead in the best possible conditions while protecting the health of riders and all participants."

Other early season postponements were given new dates: the women's Vuelta CV Feminas (April 18) and Setmana Ciclista Valenciana Feminas (May 6-9), and men's Vuelta Murcia (May 23) from February, Volta ao Algarve (May 5-9), Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol (May 18-22), GP de Denain (September 21). The Giro di Sicily moved from April to September 28-October 1, the Saudi Tour to October 19-23 and the Drentse Acht van Westerveld to October 22.

The Challenge Mallorca races, normally held in January, are now on the calendar for May 13-16.

The UCI also confirmed new dates for the Joe Martin Stage Race from August 26-29 but have not yet updated the dates for Tour of the Gila, which is looking to move from late April to September 29-October 3.

Races that have been cancelled include the Tour de Yorkshire men's and women's races, Bretagne Ladies Tour, Vuelta a Madrid, the Chrono Gatineau and Tour de Gatineau, and the Deutschland Tour.