Tour Down Under 2021 cancelled because of Covid-19
Tour Down Under 2021 cancelled because of Covid-19
PARIS (AFP) - The Tour Down Under, scheduled to be held January 19-24, 2021, in and around the southern Australian city of Adelaide, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers said on Sunday a "smaller domestic cycling festival" would take the place of the Tour Down Under.
"The complexities and risks involved with quarantining and international border closures have ultimately proved too much to ask of some of the teams, who have endured a stressful, challenging and compressed 2020 season that will run later than normal," said Hitaf Rasheed, executive director of Events South Australia.
"Accordingly, the Santos Tour Down Under with international races will not run in 2021 but we assure everyone it will return to South Australia and the start of the UCI s world cycling calendars in January 2022, with the full support of the UCI."
The WorldTour s Cadel Evans Great Ocean race, scheduled for January 31, was also cancelled.
The opening event of the WorldTour calendar in 2021 will now be the Tour of the United Arab Emirates between February 21-27.
