Cycling has added a women's Paris Roubaix cyclied over cobbles to the new 2020 calendar . AFP/File/Anne-Christine POUJOULAT
The ‘Hell of the North’ Paris-Roubaix has been fixed for October 25, with a first ever women’s version of the gruelling, mud-splattered slog over cobbled mining roads.
The race is epic in its length with swathes of riders not making it to the finish line and is a key date for sports fans in France.
Two other top one-day races Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Flanders already had women’s dates and were rescheduled for men and women October 4 and October 18.
Cycling’s most prestigious race the Tour de France was pushed back two months to August 29, with the world road race championships at Aigle in Switzerland to start September 20.
The UCI also announced new dates for the two other Grand Tours Tuesday, with the Giro to start in Budapest October 3 and finish in Rome October 25 and the Vuelta to be run between October 20 and November 8.
The UCI World Tour restarts in Italy on August 1 with the Strade Bianche, followed a week later by the longest race on the circuit the Milan-San Remo.
The first major race in France will be a shortened five day version of the Criterium de Dauphine starting Wednesday August 12.