Popular sportive L'Etape du Tour is set to still go ahead in 2020 following the announcement of new dates for the Tour de France. The UCI confirmed on Wednesday that the French Grand Tour will now take place from Saturday 29th August until Sunday 20th September, back two months from its original start date of 27th June.
The postponement was forced due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown currently in place in France.
With these new dates, race organiser ASO has also confirmed the Tour's official sportive, L'Etape du Tour, would also be rescheduled but stopped short of confirming a specific date.
'The 30th edition of the Etape du Tour cyclosportive, originally scheduled to take place on 5th July, will be postponed to a date yet to be determined,' ASO confirmed.
Annually around 12,000 amateurs come from around the world to complete the official sportive which bases its route off one of the Tour's 21 stages.
The 2020 edition is to be held in Nice and was set to follow the same route as Stage 2, a 175km mountainous course that climbs the Col de la Colmaine, Col du Turini and Col d'Eze, before finishing back in Nice.
As is the case every year, general entry has already sold out with the only spots still available through charity places.
All those who entered for L'Etape du Tour in July will have their place transferred to the later date, however ASO did not mention whether riders would be able to access a refund if unable to attend.
The rescheduling of L'Etape du Tour will give hope to amateurs who missed out on the postponed sportives attached to the Spring Classics races such as Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
All three of these one-day Classics are expected to be held in October as part of the UCI's updated calendar which would suggest the respective sportives will be rearranged too.