Lausanne (AFP)

Will there be a rainbow jersey wearer in 2020? The only certainty is that no rider will be sacred in Aigle-Martigny: the restrictions linked to Covid-19 got the better of the World Cycling Championships in Switzerland, but the International Cycling Union already says it is working at a fallback site within six weeks of the original maturity.

The world championships scheduled for Aigle-Martigny from September 20 to 27, on UCI Lake Geneva lands, were added on Wednesday to the long list of sporting events that bore the brunt of the pandemic.

The ban Wednesday by the Swiss federal authorities of major events, "involving more than 1,000 people", until September 30 precipitated the cancellation of the Worlds in Switzerland, announced in the wake by their organizers.

"As a result, the organization of the World Championships is impossible especially as more than 45 countries are subject to quarantine for entry into Switzerland (...) which would not allow the event to be given the influence desired ", noted the organizing committee in a press release.

"It's a year of work with the federation on logistics, preparation. All that was swept away in one day," sighs the coach of the France team Thomas Voeckler, referring to AFP, "a big disillusionment ". Especially for its riders who "had been thinking about it for a year and dreamed of being world champions".

Despite everything, the UCI maintains the hope of seeing Worlds this year: the Aigle-based body "will work on an alternative project to ensure that the 2020 edition of the event can take place, as a priority in Europe and on the dates initially planned, "she assured Wednesday.

- Netherlands, Italy, Austria and France envisaged -

The iridescent jersey of the world champion is the "holy grail for the whole peloton", recalled its president David Lappartient, announcing a "final decision no later than September 1" on the holding of an edition in 2020.

Worlds on a different site "but as demanding as that of Aigle-Martigny", said the UCI.

What not completely destroy Thomas Voeckler since the course of Aigle-Martigny and its climb of the Petite Forclaz (4 km at 10.2%) corresponded perfectly to the profile of the trio trio Alaphilippe-Pinot-Bardet.

But the international federation is engaged in a race against the clock less than six weeks before September 20, the expected date of the first event, precisely the + chrono + elite man.

"The UCI is working on several tracks: the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and France but it is working more on Austria," a source close to the authority told AFP.

"Finding a reception site is very complicated in such a short time", judges the president of the French Cycling Federation Michel Callot, without ruling out a French candidacy.

"We must already know the roadmap, he warns. We will get in touch with David Lappartient, I am convinced that he will do everything possible to find a solution."

The World Roads were initially supposed to bring together more than a thousand cyclists from 80 countries and include eleven events on the program.

Some could serve as an adjustment variable since the Worlds organized in emergency could only include "part of the races planned", the UCI said.

© 2020 AFP