Sibiu Cycling Tour postponed until late July

The Sibiu Cycling Tour has been postponed until late July, moving back from its early-July slot – which would have made it the first UCI-ranked race of the new, revised calendar – due to concerns about what effect the coronavirus pandemic might continue to have on the staging of the competition.

"The 10th edition of the Cyclist Tour of Sibiu will take place from July 23-26, 2020," read a statement on social media from the organisers of the Romanian stage race on Wednesday.

"Initially, the Sibiu Tour was to take place from July 2-5, thus becoming the first UCI competition on the world road calendar after the forced break caused by the pandemic.

"Analysing the existing situation, but also considering that, in early July, travel restrictions from most countries on the continent could still affect the start of the Cyclist Tour of Sibiu, as well as the quarantine provisions, we consulted on the new date with the teams that had announced their participation, and we concluded that the second part of July would be better suited for the competition," it read.

Last year, the 2.1-ranked race was won overall by Costa Rica's Kevin Rivera of the Italian Pro Continental team Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, while this year, for the first time in the event's history, two WorldTour teams are set to take part, in the shape of Israel Start-Up Nation and CCC Team.

The Sibiu Cycling Tour's postponement means that, according to the calendar, the first elite-level UCI-sanctioned event will be the men's and women's editions of Turkish 1.2-ranked one-day race the Grand Prix Erciyes on July 11.

The first WorldTour event is scheduled to be Italian one-day race Strade Bianche on August 1.