A revised calendar from the International Cycling Union on
Tuesday revealed the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana will overlap by six
days, while there was also a brand new women’s version of the sport’s toughest
one day race.
The ‘Hell of the North’ Paris-Roubaix has been fixed for
October 25, with a first ever women’s version of the gruelling, mud-splattered
slog over cobbled mining roads.
The race is epic in its length with swathes of riders not
making it to the finish line and is a key date for sports fans in France.
Two other top one-day races Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the
Tour of Flanders already had women’s dates and were rescheduled for men and
women October 4 and October 18.
“We have the desire to increase the number of events
in women’s racing and give them media coverage,” the chief of the race
organiser Christian Prudhomme told AFP.
“We continue to bear in mind what riders like
Marianne Vos ask of us in terms of media exposure.”
Cycling’s most prestigious race the Tour de France was
pushed back two months to August 29, with the world road race championships at
Aigle in Switzerland to start September 20.
The UCI also announced new dates for the two other Grand
Tours Tuesday, with the Giro to start in Budapest October 3 and finish in Rome
October 25 and the Vuelta to be run between October 20 and November 8.
Despite the overlap Spanish cycling authorities said they
were delighted with a ‘great opportunity’, after they feared being pushed back
even further in the year.
“We have to try to turn this necessity into a
virtue,” said the Vuelta director Javier Guillen.
“We have a great position in the calendar and we hope
to have an exceptional participation level.”
The UCI World Tour restarts in Italy on August 1 with the
Strade Bianche, followed a week later by the longest race on the circuit the
Milan-San Remo.
The first major race in France will be a shortened
five-day version of the Criterium de Dauphine starting Wednesday August 12.
That race will embark from Clermont-Ferrand as scheduled
and then goes straight to the four toughest stages.
Organisers ASO, who also run the Tour and Paris-Nice, said
they would do everything to keep the racing safe.
“We’ll adapt like we did at Paris-Nice,” ASO
chief Christian Prudhomme said of the February event where crowds were limited
at the start and finish lines.
“This year the Dauphine plays an even more important
role than usual as preparation for the Tour.”
