2020 Pro Race Calendar

Happy New Year, here’s the calendar of all the major pro races for the year ahead, free to download for your diary or if you want a page online, just remember inrng.com/calendar.

There’s also quick explainer on how to subscribe to the calendar, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.

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.UWT, 1.Pro, 1.1 is a one day race; any race with the 2. prefix like 2.UWT, 2.Pro, 2.1 is a stage race
• UWT means UCI 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. Up to 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 up to half the starting teams can be World Tour.
• 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 is more than a label and a calendar, 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 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 to avoid being alerted in the middle of the night that the Bredene Koksijde Classic is coming up
• “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
• “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 your data plan and faster to do it year-by-year and subscribing afresh 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, a typo or anything else please email and it can be fixed for everyone

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) .