New Tour dates, Bardet’s plans: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers.
After weeks of rumors about a reshuffled WorldTour calendar, the UCI finally announced new planned dates for the Tour de France and other details regarding the 2020 season on Wednesday.
The big news is that the Tour de France is now scheduled to run from August 29 to September 20, followed by the Giro d’Italia and then the Vuelta a España.
The Monuments are expected to take place later this season as well, with dates still yet to be announced.
Whether any racing goes ahead as planned, of course, remains a big question mark, as national governments will have to approve of any large events, and for now, it’s unclear whether that will be feasible even in August or September.
At the very least, however, we now have some clarity about the plans ahead.
Until next time, readers.
What’s news
| Tour officially rescheduled
The UCI announced on the Wednesday that the Tour de France has been rescheduled to now run from August 29 to September 20, a postponement of just over two months from the initial race dates.
Organizers are expected to run the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España following the rescheduled Tour, with the five Monument classics also expected to be scheduled later in the year on as of yet undetermined dates.
Whether any of rescheduled races will actually take place, of course, remains unclear, as it remains to be seen how the pandemic situation and government responses develop in the weeks and months ahead.
| Bardet likely to shift focus to Tour
Romain Bardet had planned on making his Giro d’Italia debut this season, but he will now likely plan to head back to the Tour for the eighth time instead.
“The Tour will be an important moment in social and sporting life,” Ag2r La Mondial team manager Vincent Lavenu said on Wednesday. “We will arrive at the start with our best assets and a very likely duo of Romain Bardet and Pierre Latour.”
| Israel Start-Up Nation Zwift events provide thousands of masks to healthcare personnel
Over the past few weeks, the Israel Start-Up Nation squad has been hosting group rides on Zwift to help provide medical personnel with masks, with the team and co-owner Dr. Kevin Ham supplying one mask per rider to hospitals in need.
So far, across three Medical Aid Rides, the team has supplied over seven thousand masks to hospitals in New York and Canada. ISN Medical Aid 4 is scheduled for this Saturday, with masks set to be donated to healthcare personnel in Israel.
| Cycling Australia announces National Racing Series on Zwift
With no outdoor races on Australia’s National Road Series being held until at least September, Cycling Australia has announced a National Racing Series on Zwift.
The series will feature six virtual races with teams of six riders for both the men’s and women’s fields. Events will be live-streamed with commentary, with three races scheduled for May, two in June, and one in July.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of Romain Bardet ascending the Col du Galibier at the Tour de France comes from Gruber Images.
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