The Tokyo Olympics have created a calendar squeeze for the 2020 cycling season, with the Tour de France scheduled to be held a week earlier than usual - between June 27 and July 19, with other major races in June such as the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse also starting earlier than usual. The Tokyo Olympics begin just six days after the Tour de France ends, with the men`s road race on Saturday, July 25, meaning riders will have little time to recover, travel and adapt to the eight-hour time difference. The women`s Olympic road race is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, with the time trial events on Wednesday, July 29. Many of the male contenders for the Mount Fuji hilly road race face a tough decision about their 2020 racing plans, with some likely to skip all or part of the Tour de France in favour of a shot at Olympic gold.ADVERTISEMENT Cyclingnews understands that the UCI was keen to move most of the first half of the 2020 WorldTour calendar forward to facilitate the presence of the Olympic Games but the Giro d`Italia has hung on to its usual May date (9-31) and so have other races before the opening Grand Tour of the season. As a result, the Critérium du Dauphiné will overlap one day with the Giro d`Italia starting on Sunday, May 31 and ending on June 7. The Tour de Suisse starts on Saturday, June 6 and ends June 14. The Tour of California will again overlap with the Giro d`Italia and is scheduled for May 10-16. The UCI revealed the full Men`s UCI WorldTour and UCI Women`s WorldTour calendars after the recent Management Committee and Professional Cycling Council meeting in Switzerland.
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