TOUR DE FRANCE : FORWARD 2021

LONDON : The start of the next year's Tour de France has been brought forward by a week to avoid clashing with men's road race at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, the International Cycling Union [UCI] has said.

The 2021 Tour will begin on June 26 and end on July 18, six days before the start of the Mount Fuji road race.

It was originally scheduled to begin on July 2 in Copenhagen Denmark.

The Tokyo Games were scheduled to take place from July 24 - Aug 9 this year but have been postponed by a year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

''With the Tokyo Olympic Games being held from July 23 to August 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 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. [Reuters]