Happy New Year. Technically the 2020 road cycling season starts today and here’s the calendar for the year ahead.
There are several new races and another blog post will look at the new races and the structure of the calendar as a whole but in the meantime you can put all the major pro races into your digital diary.
There’s also quick explainer on how to subscribe to the calendar, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.
All of the major UCI men’s and women’s pro races around the world are included. Some races might move dates and sadly others might vanish too.
There is a permanent link to the calendar at the top of the inrng.com home page if you just want to visit from time to time (mobile users: tap “menu” at the top of the page for the drop down menu and then > 2020 calendar) .
iCal
An iCal is a calendar file that you can store on your phone or electronic diary like Outlook or Calendar. There are several ways to get this on to your computer or phone.
Subscribe and get automatic updates: The recommended option is to subscribe by copying the iCal URL:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/6sdbkrvcfog38tuhlhl00b2tc0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
- If you use MacOS copy the URL… and open the Calendar app. Then got to File > New Calendar Subscription…) and paste in the link and you’re done
- iPhone/iPad users should push and hold down a finger here , wait for the pop up message and select “Copy”. Then on your device go to settings > Accounts and Passwords > Add account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar and paste in the URL
- If you use Microsoft Outlook, copy the URL and then go to Tools > Account Settings > Internet Calendars and paste the URL to subscribe
The subscription methods above are the best because any additions, deletion and amendments will automatically be pushed to your diary or device. Sadly races will get cancelled, some shortened and others moved.
Subscribe and any changes will be fed through automatically.
Direct download: if you can’t do the above, you can download the iCal file for your organiser, phone, computer and other devices from here
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/6sdbkrvcfog38tuhlhl00b2tc0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Right-click to save the ics / iCal / iCalendar file and you can import it into your electronic diary. If you have trouble with the subscription then this is an easier option but it means you’re saving today’s version of the calendar and you might want to return here to download a new version a few times a year in order to get the amendments and corrections.
Google Calendar: If you use Google Calendar then click on the icon on the bottom-right of the calendar up at the top of the page. Note this method can work with Android phones when the iCal file might not although you might need the Google Sync calendar app.
Calendar Labels Explained
There are some changes for 2020. Each race is listed along with its location and UCI status eg World Tour, Pro Series or 2.1.
- Any race with the 1. prefix, like 1.WT, 1.Pro, 1.1 is a one day race; any race with the 2. prefix like 2.WT, 2.Pro, 2.1 is a stage race
- WT means World Tour and includes all the prime races on the calendar, from the three grand tours (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España) to the one day classics like Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia, as well as others like the Tour of Poland or the Tour Down Under and can be anywhere in the world. Normally all men’s WorldTeams must ride, organisers must invite the best UCI ProTeam from 2019, Total Direct Energie and then wildcard invites can go to other UCI ProTeams and in a few cases, national teams of the host country.
- After this comes the UCI ProSeries, new for 2020. It’s essentially most of the old 1.HC and 2.HC races rebranded into a series, like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne or the Tour of Britain. Upto 70% of the starting teams can be World Tour.
- Then come races grouped by region, with the UCI Asia Tour, UCI America Tour, UCI Africa Tour and UCI Oceania Tour and UCI Europe Tour and here the *.1 races are included where upto half the starting teams can be WorldTour.
- There are lower level pro-am *.2 races, U23s, criteriums and more but only the pro calendar is included.
Women’s Race labels
- WWT is the the Women’s World Tour. New for 2020 is that this calendar is more than a label, it comes with regulatory requirements and minimum standards. At least eight Women’s World Tour teams start
- W1.Pro and W2.Pro are women’s one day and women’s stage races where the field is made up of a minimum of 4 World Tour teams invited and a maximum of 10 women’s World Tour teams; the rest of the field is women’s continental teams, national squads as well as regional or club teams
- W1.1 and W2.1 are women’s one day and women’s stage races where the field is made up of a minimum of 1 World Tour teams invited and a maximum of 5 women’s World Tour teams; the rest of the field is women’s continental teams, national squads as well as regional or club teams
FAQ
- “Why are some 2019 races listed like Fuzhou in your 2020 calendar?” Under the UCI rules they’re actually classified as part of the 2020 season, the idea being is that the new season begins the day after the UCI’s World Tour gala
- “Why are the races listed as all day events?” – It’s impossible to know today whether a race is slated to finish at, say, 4pm or 5.15pm so there’s no point guessing the precise slot, it’s easier to list them as all day events
- “Help, my phone rings at midnight with an alert” – by default notifications are turned off but check your device settings too in case they turn them on once you’ve subscribed avoid being alerted in the middle of the night
- “I only want the World Tour races“, “I don’t want the women’s races” etc: some readers email in special requests it’s hard to accommodate every view and offer 12 versions with and without different races, let alone maintain them all with the additions, deletions and amendments that will inevitable happen so it’s all or nothing
- “I subscribed to your 2019 calendar, can’t you just add next year’s races to save me from subscribing again?” This is possible but it means you’d end up with a diary with hundreds of dormant entries from the past. It’s lighter on data and faster to do it year-by-year and subscribing again should take you as much time as it took to read this bullet point
- “The date for such-and-such race is wrong“. The UCI calendar is provisional plus it’s possible something gets bungled when typing everything by hand. If you spot a change or a typo please email in and it can be fixed for everyone
Is there any way to only see the men’s WT races?
never mind, i just saw the FAO
just download the calendar and you can filter as much as you want (hint: thera are race categories like wwt, w1, w2)and delete what you think you won’t need
Thanks for this. It allowed me to look at the actual summer race schedule, and got me thinking again about the exchange a few days ago about riders doing (or not doing) both the TdF and the Olympics RR. Seeing the schedule, I’m even more convinced that riders who finish the Tour are likely to have a hard time in Tokyo. It’s not acclimatizing to the weather – the Tour will have plenty of heat, perhaps even days hotter than in Tokyo. It’s the lack of recovery days (or rather, recovery nights and quality sleep).
A few days ago, RQS pointed out that 19 of the top 20 finishers at the 2016 Olympics did the whole TdF, and suggested anyone who didn’t do the Tour was unlikely to do well in Tokyo. However, in 2016 there were 12 days between the TdF and the Olympic road race. Also importantly, Rio is four time zones to the WEST of Paris. Finishing the Tour, and taking a long flight to the west isn’t that traumatic to one’s sleep/wake cycle. Plenty of time to adjust to adjust the circadian clock, and an easier adjustment than going the opposite direction.
Next year, there are only five days between the races. Worse, it’s a very long plane flight through 7 times zones to the EAST. Basically, everyone loses a day in transit, and arrives with horrible jet lag. Many of us have done long flights to both the west and to the east – the latter is significantly harder on the body. Four full days (after flying to Tokyo) isn’t nearly enough time to get back on schedule, and being sleep deprived after the TdF will be a disaster.
I know that in 2016 GVA also did San Sebastian, which was only 5 days before the Rio road race. However, he still had 6 days of recovery after the TdF, did a one day race that brought him one time zone closer to Rio, after which he had five more days of recovery.
My guess some riders who have Olympic aspirations will bail early on the TdF, while others will go to Poland instead. Or maybe the Tour of Quinghai Lake! Hey, don’t laugh, it’s got some climbing stages, and it’s only one time zone away from Japan, with plenty of time to recover and do some good training for the Olympics.
Anyway, thanks for the calendar.
You’re right about the 12 days vs 5, the jet lag, and everything…, but San Sebastian is in the same time zone as France, and east of Bretagne too.
Of course you’re right about the time zone; the map I looked at was confusing. My point about location was that Paris, where the TdF ends, is further away from Rio compared to the region of the Clasica San Sebastian. Of course, that doesn’t mean that flights are shorter, since I assume Paris flights are more likely to be direct. In any event, the main point is that flying from Paris (or Spain) to Rio is significantly less stressful on the body than flying from Paris to Tokyo (minimal sleep/wake cycle disruption), and with the latter travel one is effectively robbed of a precious night of recovery sleep (time zone changes).
Thinking about this more, I wonder if it wouldn’t be prudent for any TdF finishers to stay put for four days of rest and recovery in Paris, each day shifting their sleep/wake cycle one hour forward (earlier), and then fly to Tokyo just before the road race. Having done long flights going eastward, I find that it’s a few days after arriving that I feel the worst, while the first day there feels pretty normal.
I just read a news about the Tour of California not to be held in 2020.
I’ve never been a big fan of this race, boosted to WT with a cringy naming sponsor and useless overlays on the screen. Nevertheless this is another big failure for the whole sport. How can it be that a race in the top level of world cycling disappear some six months before the venue?
A race can apply to go on the calendar and file the paperwork but in the meantime it might not have sponsors, find costs rising, struggle for host towns etc. It’ll be interesting to learn the reasons why the race has stopped.
It’ll be VERY interesting to know, because we are talking of a jewel of the crown of “new cycling”, one of the few allowed to be named after a sponsor, supported by majors as Specialized, Trek and Cannondale, with a good media coverage (stuffed with ads) and unlimited potential audience.
We talk a lot about a business model for cycling, but to me it looks like nothing is sustainable in medium-long terms, without heavy involvement of public finance, while funding teams (european regions, asian states), promoting a country/city (australian and canadian races) or paying for WC events, grand departs, stage arrivals, etc…
Jonathan Vaughters had some comments about this cancellation/hiatus, and some of the ways that the standard bicycle racing model doesn’t/can’t work in the US. Hopefully the sad state of affairs will stimulate some innovative thinking about how to grow elite road racing in the US, as Vaughters suggests. Or perhaps, as wealthy individuals in certain countries tire of ‘sports washing’ through cycling, and races in North America founder, the sport retreats back to it’s original core in Europe, and embraces being a niche sport.
I think JV is right when he says pro cycling is not interesting to your average American in front of his TV. Neither is MLB to the average Italian sitting in front of his. Nothing JV’s MBA-brain suggests is gonna change that. His “business/entertainment genius” has seen him scrape by every year just trying to hold his team above water and now he’s sold the whole thing to EF. Wonder how long they’ll throw money at it before pulling the plug?