World Championships will go ahead, says Lappartient, with numerous European cities in contention to host

UCI President David Lappartient has said the 2020 UCI Road World Championships will still go ahead as planned on the original dates, albeit in a different location.

Martigny, Switzerland, where the UCI is headquartered, pulled out of hosting duties due to the difficulties posed by the coronavirus pandemic, but cycling's governing body will pull out all the stops to put on the event that contributes a significant sum to its yearly income.

Instead, a number of European cities have applied to host the week-long event, with Italian and French locations among those being considered. The UCI is said to not be asking potential host cities for royalties, which opens up more locations as possible venues.

A final decision is set for the first two days of September, where the host city will be announced.

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Keeping the original dates excludes any Tour de France competitors from taking part in the men's individual time trial, which takes place on Sunday September 20, when the peloton will be on the road to Paris.

However, the week is then bookended by the men's road race, giving those who've ridden the French Grand Tour a number of days off before challenging for the rainbow jersey.

The European Road Championships have been taking place this week in Plouay, despite escalating coronavirus cases in France.

Giacomo Nizzolo won the men's road race days after becoming Italian road race champion, while Annemiek van Vleuten fended off Elisa Longo Borghini to add the European champion's jersey to add to her rainbow one.