Tour of California cancelled for 2020 with doubts over its future
By PA Media
Last Updated: 29/10/19 11:36pm
The Tour of California will not take place in 2020 with the long-term future of the race in serious doubt after organisers announced a "hiatus" on Tuesday.
The week-long race is the only American event on the UCI WorldTour and has attracted some of the world's best riders over its 14-year history.
Tour de France champions Sir Bradley Wiggins and Egan Bernal are among the former overall winners, while three-time former world champion Peter Sagan is a 17-time Tour stage winner and Mark Cavendish has 10 stage wins to his name.
The women's race, also part of the WorldTour, has previously been won by reigning world champion Anna van der Breggen.
But the event may not have a long-term future, with organisers AEG admitting they are considering whether to run the race again.
"This has been a very difficult decision to make, but the business fundamentals of the Amgen Tour of California have changed since we launched the race 14 years ago," the event's president Kristin Klein said in a statement.
"While professional cycling globally continues to grow and we are very proud of the work we have done to increase the relevance of professional cycling, particularly in the United States, it has become more challenging each year to mount the race.
"This new reality has forced us to re-evaluate our options, and we are actively assessing every aspect of our event to determine if there is a business model that will allow us to successfully relaunch the race in 2021."
USA Cycling said it would work with AEG in the hope of reviving the race after next season.
"We stand ready to help rally additional support and resources in the hopes of resuming this event in 2021," said USA Cycling chairman Bob Stapleton.
