Tour de France moved to avoid Tokyo Olympics clash
Last Updated: 29/07/20 6:48am
The start of next year's Tour de France has been brought forward by a week to avoid clashing with the men's road race at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has confirmed the 2021 Tour will begin on June 26 and end on July 18 - six days before the start of the Mount Fuji road race at the games.
The Tour was originally scheduled to begin on July 2 in Copenhagen, Denmark but due to the 2020 Tokyo Games being postponed for a year due to coronavirus pandemic, the cycling calendar has been changed.
"With the Tokyo Olympic Games being held from July 23 to Aug. 8 2021, the dates of several events have been adapted," the UCI said in a statement unveiling its calendar for the season.
"It is of note that to avoid an overlapping of the Olympic road cycling races (July 24, 25 and 28) with the Tour de France (initially envisaged for July 2-25), the French stage race will finish on July 18, the weekend before the first weekend of the Olympics."
The UCI also said the Tour of California and the RideLondon-Surrey Classic would not be a part of its new calendar, which consists of 35 events.
