UCI cancels cyclocross World Cups in U.S. and Ireland
A revised cyclocross World Cup calendar now starts in November, and gone are events in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Dublin, Ireland, and Antwerp, Belgium.
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There will be no American or Irish cyclocross World Cups in 2020.
On Wednesday the UCI alongside Flanders Classics unveiled a revised competition calendar for the 2020-2021 cyclocross World Cup. Gone are the World Cup rounds in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Dublin, Ireland, and Antwerp, Belgium.
In a release, UCI President David Lappartient thanked the race organizers for their “positive attitude” during the process of developing an adapted competition calendar amid the coronavirus shutdown.
“I regret the absence of rounds such as those in Waterloo and Dublin, which fortunately we will see the following season,” Lappartient said. “After the calendars for road and for UCI mountain bike events, another important section of the UCI International Calendar can be revealed. This is an excellent sign for the athletes and all participants of our events. As for all events with new dates, they remain dependent on the health situation in their respective host countries.”
The new calendar features a later start than the original calendar. Upon its release in September, 2019, the 2020-2021 World Cup originally started October 4 with the only U.S. round, held at the Trek Bicycles headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, before featuring rounds on October 18 (Dublin), and then October 25 (Zonhoven, Belgium).
Those events stood to conflict with major WorldTour road and mountain-bike events, due to the adjusted schedules in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.
Now, the revised calendar eliminates those three rounds and instead starts November 1 with the World Cup round in Overijse, Belgium. The October 25 round in Zonhoven has been moved to December 13, where it replaces the World Cup that was previously held in Antwerp.
In a release, Tomas Van Den Spiegel, CEO of Flanders Classics, said that delaying the start of the cyclocross season due to the conflicts with road and mountain-bike made sense “for all parties.”
“On the one hand because of modifications to the road season which will see some highlights in October and on the other hand because of uncertainties that still exist over measures that will be necessary, both at national and international level, to keep the Covid-19 pandemic under control,” Van Den Spiegel said. “The UCI and Flanders Classics thank organizers and cities for their constructive and flexible collaboration. We also hope that the financial efforts we are making for local organizers will help them stage their races in these conditions.”