RACES WE’LL MISS IN 2020
UNTIL NEXT TIME…
E3 HARELBEKE
E3 is kind of a Tour of Flanders Lite – 200km, 16 bergs and the perfect warm-up for the major Classics. It tends to have big winners too; all of the last 10 have won either a Monument or the Tour de France. (Except Zdeněk Štybar, who’s been second in Roubaix twice, which we reckon counts too).
RIDELONDON SURREY
The last 10 years has brought some pretty amazing bike racing to the UK, and with the Tour de Yorkshire and Ridelondon-surrey Classic, it’s been the gift that keeps on giving. But the latter is part of a huge festival, which was cancelled in its entirety in May on safety grounds.
MISS YOU ALREADY…
LINCOLN GP
No longer a UCI race, but well loved all the same by grass-roots cycling fans in the UK. The crowds that throng the finish, and the iconic cobbled climb of Michaelgate lend the race a big-occasion feel that fans will miss this year.
WOMEN’S TOUR
Six days in June usually see the world’s best female bike riders competing for good prize money on British roads. Won last year by Lizzie Deignan, the year before by Coryn Rivera, organiser Sweetspot cancelled it along with the Tour of Britain and the Tour Series.
BABY COME BACK!
TOUR DE YORKSHIRE
A perennial favourite for British fans since 2015, the Tour de Yorks is big, tough, and more egalitarian than most, with the women’s race providing some of the best action of the weekend. Currently postponed but with its organisers in difficulty, its future hangs in the balance.
TOUR DE SUISSE
Becoming ever more important as a pre-tour form indicator, the TDS is a hard race in its own right, where a GC win is the preserve of world-class riders. The race has said rescheduling for later in the year would be neither financially or logistically feasible, thus it was cancelled for the first time since 1945.