Events
The race calendar for the 2021 season was announced in July 2020, [1] with twenty-five races initially scheduled – up from twenty-one that were scheduled to be held in 2020. Two Spanish races – the Itzulia Women and the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas – were scheduled to be part of the calendar for the first time. [2] Paris–Roubaix, which featured on the revised 2020 schedule after the suspension of racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, also returned to the calendar, as did the RideLondon Classique after a year's absence. In September 2020, the Giro d'Italia Femminile was relegated to the 2021 UCI Women's ProSeries, being downgraded to 2.Pro status. [3]
On 1 November 2020, La Course by Le Tour de France was moved forward three weeks from 18 July to 27 June; this was as a result of the route being contested on the second day of the 2021 Tour de France, finishing at the Mûr-de-Bretagne. [4] On 22 February 2021, following the cancellation of the Itzulia Women stage race, race organisers OCETA announced their intention to hold the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa at World Tour level, on 31 July. [5] La Course by Le Tour de France was moved forward a further day in April 2021 to 26 June, due to departmental elections to be held in Côtes-d'Armor, and consisted of a route utilising part of the opening stage of the men's race. [6] In July, the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta was extended from three stages to four, finishing in Santiago de Compostela on the same day as the final stage of the Vuelta a España. [7]
Cancelled and postponed events
On 1 November 2020, the season-opening Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race was cancelled due to quarantine and border restriction issues attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] The organisers of the Ronde van Drenthe announced that they had applied to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to move the race from the assigned date of 14 March to the last weekend of October. [14] [15] In January 2021, both the Itzulia Women and the RideLondon Classique were cancelled as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. [16] [17] The following month, The Women's Tour was postponed from its initial June dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, requesting a date change to October. [9] [10] In March, the Tour of Chongming Island was postponed from its scheduled dates in May. [18] On 18 March 2021, it was confirmed that The Women's Tour, the Tour of Chongming Island and the Ronde van Drenthe would all be held in October. [11] On 1 April 2021, Paris–Roubaix was postponed to 2 October, following a surge in cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. [8] In May, the Open de Suède Vårgårda races were cancelled due to financial issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. [19] In August, the Tour of Chongming Island and the Tour of Guangxi were both cancelled at the request of their respective organisers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [20]
