Covid-19: the Tour de France 2020 officially postponed to the end of summer

It is the sporting event that marks the beginning of summer but, in 2020, it will close it. The Tour de France is officially postponed for two months and will take place from Saturday August 29 to Sunday September 20, announced on Wednesday April 15 its director Christian Prudhomme on France 2. The Grande Boucle was initially scheduled to take place from June 27 to July 19.

"It has never happened so late in the year in history, but it will run from August 29 to September 20," said Christian Prudhomme. It will take place on the course initially planned, he said.

Since its creation in 1903, only the two World Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 have prevented the holding of the Great Loop.

"It takes four to six weeks of road training for the riders. Then, it takes another month with benchmark events like the Criterium du Dauphiné and then Le Tour," described Christian Prudhomme to justify this postponement at the end of summer.

Regarding the presence of spectators, the director of the cycling event said: "We will obviously follow all the recommendations and I dare to hope, not only for the Tour, but especially for our country, for France, that we can live more freely because the epidemic will be further ".

Invited to the news at 1 p.m., Christian Prudhomme confirmed the postponement of the Tour de France 2020 from August 29 to September 20 # TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/yvODkEp87p

A disrupted calendar

This announcement was foreseen by the French cycling teams, the day after the announcements of Emmanuel Macron, who extended the confinement until May 11 and declared that the events with a large public would remain prohibited "at least until mid-July" .

The period of suspension of international competitions is extended by one month until July 1, also announced the UCI at the end of its meeting with stakeholders in cycling, teams, riders and organizers.

The postponement of the Tour de France notably results in a displacement of the Vuelta at the end of the season. However, the elite race of the Worlds, scheduled for September 27 in Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland) on a rough course, should benefit from the impact of the Tour, which will have ended seven days earlier.

"The world championships are maintained on the fixed dates, evening of September 20 to 27, and the competition program remains unchanged," added the UCI.

The Tour de France will take place on the planned route, without change, from Nice to Paris, from Saturday August 29 to Sunday September 20, 2020.
More info ➡️ https://t.co/Ik9vmcp7sN#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/2o6D0GVPal

The new dates for the other major postponed races, in particular the Giro and the "monuments" (great classics), have not yet been specified by the UCI, which has set the publication of the new calendar "no later than May 15" and issued the first indications.

"The Giro will compete after the Road Worlds and will be followed by the Vuelta," said the international federation without mentioning whether the two events could overlap.

The national championships will take place on the weekend of August 22 and 23.

In France, where the pandemic has caused the death of more than 15,000 people since the beginning of March, no race is scheduled before mid-July, following announcements by the President of the Republic prohibiting public gatherings until this period.

With AFP and Reuters

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app