Tour to start in August; Giro & Vuelta overlap

Last updated on 2 minutes ago2 minutes ago.From the section Cycling

The Tour de France will be held at the end of August, with the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana overlapping during October, the UCI has announced.

The three Grand Tour races are part of a packed schedule across three months, running from 1 August to 31 October.

But the Tour de France was cast into doubt after the French government’s admission it was “not sure” the country would be ready.

The race was delayed from 27 June because of the coronavirus crisis.

French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said on Tuesday: “We do not know what the epidemic will be like after lockdown.”

France last week extended a ban on mass gatherings until September.

The season is set to begin with the Strade Bianche one-day classic in Italy on 1 Aug and end with the Vuelta on 8 November.

The Tour keeps it date at the end of August as announced by cycling’s governing body the UCI last week. The Giro d’Italia runs from 3-25 October, and the Vuelta from 20 October to 8 November, seeing two of the biggest races of the season run concurrently.

Other major races include the ‘monument’ classics Milan-San Remo on 8 August, Liege-Bastogne-Liege on 4 October, Tour of Flanders on 18 Oct and Paris-Roubaix a week later on 25 Oct.

The Tour, won by Team Ineos’ Egan Bernal last year, was originally scheduled to run from 27 June to 19 July.

Many large-scale sporting events scheduled to take place this summer have either been called off, such as Wimbledon, or pushed back by a year, such as football’s European Championship and the summer Olympics.

More to follow