Australia’s two biggest annual cycling events have been wiped off the 2021 calendar due to the global pandemic
Adelaide’s Tour Down Under and Victoria’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race bowed to the inevitable Sunday night, making their announcements minutes apart
The surge in the number of coronaviruses in the northern hemisphere and the late end of the 2020 cycling season, again because of the coronavirus, have finally made it impossible to continue events early next year
It will be the first time that the Tour has not progressed since its start in 1999, when the Cadel Evans one day race started in 2015
« We are devastated not to open the UCI WorldTour one-day racing season in January, » said Evans, the only Tour de France winner in Australia
‘But this decision was made with priority given to the health and safety of our runners, event partners, spectators, workforce, volunteers and more’
Events South Australia and Visit Victoria are planning national cycling events to help fill the gap
The Tour Down Under, the first WorldTour race in Australia, was scheduled to take place January 19-24, while the Cadel Evans elite one-day races were scheduled to take place in and around Geelong at the weekend from January 30 to 31
Speculation had been circulating for several weeks that the two events would probably not take place next year
« We have done everything possible to think about how we can achieve this, » said Hitaf Rasheed, Executive Director of Events SA
‘But unfortunately in the end it was the international component, with more than 400 people who make up the international teams, that turned out to be the most difficult to overcome
‘The complexities and risks associated with quarantining and closing international borders ultimately proved too much to ask of some teams
‘(They) endured a stressful, difficult and compressed 2020 season that will unfold later than normal’
Former cycling star Stuart O’Grady took over from Mike Turtur as Race Director of the Tour this year and January was set to be his first time at the helm
« Of course I am disappointed but given the challenges our priority must be the health and safety of South Australians, our communities and the international cycling fraternity, » said O’Grady
Santos Tour Down Under, 2021, Coronavirus, UCI World Tour, Cadel Evans, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
News from the world – UA – The Tour Down Under 2021 is canceled in due to coronavirus
