UCI Releases World Tour Calendars for 2021

Cycling’s international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has revealed the 2021 calendars for the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour.

UCI WorldTour 2021
With the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled to be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021, the dates of several events have been adapted.

Toavoid an overlapping of the Olympic road cycling races (24, 25 and 28 July) with the Tour de France (initially envisaged for 2-25 July), the French stage race will finish on 18 July, the weekend before the first weekend of the Olympics.

As for the Vuelta Ciclista a España, it will be held a week earlier than its usual dates, to allow for a better transition between the Vuelta, the European Championships (announced for the weekend of 11-12 September) and the UCI Road World Championships.

The organisers of the Amgen Tour of California (United States) and the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (Great Britain) have not requested to register their event on the 2021 UCI WorldTour calendar.

‘The UCI regrets the departure of these two events and will work with concerned parties towards trying to ensure the return to the leading series for men’s professional road cycling of events taking place in these two regions that are important for high-level cycling.’

Next year, the UCI WorldTour will therefore comprise 35 events. It will begin in Australia in the second half of January, and will finish in China in October, taking the world’s best teams and top riders to 12 countries on four continents.

2021 UCI WorldTour Calendar

• 19-24 January: Santos Tour Down Under (Australia)
• 31 January: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (Australia)
• 21-27 February: UAE Tour (United Arab Emirates)
• 27 February: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite (Belgium)
• 6 March: Strade Bianche (Italy)
• 7-14 March: Paris-Nice (France)
• 10-16 March: Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)
• 20 March: Milano-Sanremo (Italy)
• 22-28 March: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Spain)
• 24 March: AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (Belgium)
• 26 March: E3 BinckBank Classic (Belgium)
• 28 March: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)
• 31 March: Dwars door Vlaanderen – A travers la Flandre (Belgium)
• 4 April: Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour des Flandres (Belgium)
• 5-10 April: Itzulia Basque Country (Spain)
• 11 April: Paris-Roubaix (France)
• 18 April: Amstel Gold Race (the Netherlands)
• 21 April: La Flèche Wallonne (Belgium)
• 25 April: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium)
• 27 April -2 May: Tour de Romandie (Switzerland)
• 1 May: Eschborn-Frankfurt (Germany)
• 8-30 May: Giro d’Italia (Italy)
• 30 May-6 June: Critérium du Dauphiné (France)
• 6-13 June: Tour de Suisse (Switzerland)
• 26 June-18 July: Tour de France (France)
• 31 July: Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa (Spain)
• 9-15 July: Tour de Pologne (Poland)
• 14 August – 5 September: La Vuelta Ciclista a España (Spain)
• 15 August: EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg (Germany)
• 22 August: Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France (France)
• 30 August – 5 September: BinckBank Tour
• 10 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec (Canada)
• 12 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (Canada)
• 9 October: Il Lombardia (Italy)
• 14-19 October: Gree – Tour of Guangxi (China)

Regarding the 2020 edition of the UCI WorldTour and in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the UCI confirms the cancellation by their organisers of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (Canada), and of the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg (Germany), which should have taken place respectively on 11 September, 13 September and 3 October.

In accordance with the provisions adopted by the UCI in June to support second-division teams, the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) has decided to authorise a reduction in the number of riders per team at the 2020 edition of Milano-Sanremo (Italy). This will enable the organiser to invite two extra UCI ProTeams without increasing the size of the peloton.

UCI Women’s WorldTour 2021
The 2021 edition of the UCI Women’s WorldTour will bring together 25 events (in 10 countries and on three continents). It will begin in Australia at the end of January and draw to a close in China in October.

Paris-Roubaix (France), which will have made its first appearance in the UCI Women’s WorldTour in 2020, will also feature on the 2021 calendar, among the Spring Classics.

The RideLondon Classique (Great Britain) will return to the leading series of women’s road cycling events and will take place on the last Sunday in May.

The Itzulia Women (formerly Donostia San Sebastian) will also join the UCI Women’s WorldTour, as a three-day stage race; this has historically been a one-day race. It will take place a few days before another new arrival, the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, also raced in stages. These two events will make up a mid-season block of Spanish events.

Finally, the Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta (Spain) will be held a week earlier than usual to enable a transition to the European Championships (11-12 September) and the UCI Road World Championships.

The organisers of the Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race empowered with SRAM have not requested registration of their event on the 2021 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar.

The UCI has also confirmed the cancellation by its organisers of the 2020 edition of the Boels Ladies Tour (the Netherlands), which should have taken place this year on 1-6 September.

2021 UCI Women’s WorldTour Calendar

• 30 January: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – Elite Women’s Race (Australia)
• 6 March: Strade Bianche (Italy)
• 14 March: Ronde van Drenthe (Pays-Bas)
• 21 March: Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio (Italy)
• 25 March: AG Driedaagse Brugge – De Panne (Belgium)
• 28 March: Gent – Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)
• 4 April: Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres (Belgium)
• 11 April: Paris-Roubaix Femmes (France)
• 18 April: Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition (the Netherlands)
• 21 April: La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (Belgium)
• 25 April: Liège – Bastogne – Liège Femmes (Belgium)
• 6-8 May: Tour of Chongming Island (China)
• 14-16 May: Itzulia Women (Spain)
• 20-23 May: Vuelta a Burgos Feminas (Spain)
• 30 May: RideLondon Classique (Great Britain)
• 7-12 June: Women’s Tour (Great Britain)
• 2-11 July: Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile (Italy)
• 18 July: La Course by Le Tour de France (France)
• 7 August: Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden TTT (Sweden)
• 8 August: Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden RR (Sweden)
• 12-15 August: Ladies Tour of Norway (Norway)
• 21 August: GP de Plouay – Lorient-Agglomération Trophée Ceratizit (France)
• 24- 9 August: Boels Ladies Tour (the Netherlands)
• 3-5 September: Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta (Spain)
• 19 October: Tour of Guangxi – UCI Women’s WorldTour (China)

The UCI International Road Calendar, comprising events in the UCI ProSeries, Class 1 and Class 2 will be presented at the UCI Management Committee’s meeting in September 2020 during the UCI Road World Championships in Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland).

www.uci.ch