Cycling’s Tour de France Rescheduled For August as Spain’s La Vuelta is Pushed Past September

THE start of the Tour de France for 2020 has been moved to August 29, after the French government banned mass gatherings until mid-July.

The premium cycling event was due to start in mid-June, and the new date means that Spain’s La Vuelta will not take place until after the World Championships in late September.

Over the Tour, cycling’s governing body, the UCI said: “Holding this event in the best conditions possible is judged essential given its central place in cycling’s economy.”

Four-time winner Chris Froome is set to return at this year’s Tour, after missing the race due to a horrendous accident.

He said on social media: “This is the news many of us have been waiting for. Some light at the end of the tunnel.”

All this rescheduling is conditional on restrictions being lifted because of the pandemic, and the UCI are hoping to cram everything in during a two to three month period.

Besides moving La Vuelta, they’ve also announced that the Giro d’Italia, which was scheduled to take place in May, will also be held in the autumn, along with key one-day ‘monument races’ like the Tour of Flanders.