Postponed Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans races may take place ahead of September Worlds
The races, if the rumour is true, will be taking place before the UCI World Championships in Wollongong, Australia
The Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans races could be held in September of 2022, just before the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, according to a Belgian race organiser.
In a report by CyclingNews it was said that neither the Tour Down Under nor the Cadel Evans Sun Race - both of which usually take place early in the year but have been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic - would confirm or deny the news reported.
The rumour began when one-day race Eurométropole Tour organiser Louis Cousaert told La DH Les Sports that he does not know where his race will be held, with the possibility of the Benelux Tour overlapping with his race as well as the "noises" coming from down under.
"We were happy to have been moved in 2022 to Saturday, September 3, that is to say the old date of the Brussels Cycling Classic, which is rescheduled in June," he said.
"But there is currently a plan to organize the Benelux Tour from September 29 to 4. If it is confirmed, then we could not organize our race on September 3rd."
August and September are exceptionally busy months in the cycling season, with various races including the final Grand Tour of the season the Vuelta a España taking place.
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Cousaert wonders if he could have his race on September 3 but with races like the Vuelta as well as the Tour of Britain, the Canadian Classics as well as the Tour of Slovakia, which Cousaert points out Quick-Step AlphaVinyl will be attending, it's tricky to reschedule.
"Not to mention the noises we hear about the postponement of the Australian races at the start of the season in September, just before the World Championships," he added.
The Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Sun Tour, as well as the Herald Sun Tour have all suffered from cancellations over the past two years. The races are being postponed again in 2022, meaning that a move to September would make sense.
With the World Championships taking place between September 18 and 25, riders will need to head over earlier than normal to the Worlds, meaning that warm up races could be ideal for preparation.
The South Australian Tourism Commission told CyclingNews: "Australia’s cycling community meets in South Australia each January and the Santos Tour Down Under is committed to return as the first race on the UCI road cycling calendar in 2023,
"We look forward to seeing everyone here." - So time will tell whether the rumour is true or not."
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Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!
I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.
It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.
After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.
When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.
My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.