It was the surprise announcement made by the UCI yesterday and it was confirmed to velowire.com by A.S.O. today: the Tour de France 2018 will start one week later than planned and it will thus take place from 7 till 29 July 2018. Furthermore, the UCI announced that the number of riders will be reduced to 8 instead of 9 per team, as asked for by A.S.O. for 2017 already ...
The dates of the Tour de France 2018: from Saturday 7 till Sunday 29 July 2018
As usual, the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), of which Christian Prudhomme is one of the members, not directly in his role as the director of the Tour de France but in this case as a "Member designated by the other organisors of the UCI WorldTour, member of the AIOCC", which defines the calendar of the UCI WorldTour.During the PCC meeting which took place in Geneva yesterday, the calendar of the UCI WorldTour 2018 was one of the main topics on the agenda and here's what has been decided:
- maintaining and extending to 5 days (instead of 4) the Abu Dhabi Tour early in the season
- A travers la Flandre will take place one week later than this year
- the start one week later of the Tour de France 2018, that is from Saturday 7 till Sunday 29 July 2018 in order to minimise the disruption resulting from the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- some other modifications in the dates of the events in the second half of the season, following the change of date for the Tour (this concerns the following races: Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, Binck Bank Tour (formerly known as Eneco Tour), Tour of Spain)
Here's what the provisional calendar of the UCI WorldTour 2018 thus looks like:
16-21 Jan 18 Santos Tour Down Under
![Australia Australia](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/1.png)
28 Jan 18 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
![Australia Australia](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/1.png)
21-25 Feb 18 Abu Dhabi Tour
![United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/42.png)
24 Feb 18 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
03 Mar 18 Strade Bianche
![Italy Italy](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/3.png)
04-11 Mar 18 Paris-Nice
![France France](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/2.png)
07-13 Mar 18 Tirreno-Adriatico
![Italy Italy](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/3.png)
17 Mar 18 Milano-Sanremo
![Italy Italy](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/3.png)
19-25 Mar 18 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
![Spain Spain](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/4.png)
23 Mar 18 Record Bank E3 Harelbeke
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
25 Mar 18 Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
28 Mar 18 Dwars door Vlaanderen - A travers la Flandre
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
01 Apr 18 Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
02-07 Apr 18 Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
![Spain Spain](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/4.png)
08 Apr 18 Paris-Roubaix
![France France](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/2.png)
15 Apr 18 Amstel Gold Race
![The Netherlands The Netherlands](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/6.png)
18 Apr 18 La Flèche Wallonne
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
22 Apr 18 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
![Belgium Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/5.png)
24-29 Apr 18 Tour de Romandie
![Switzerland Switzerland](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/7.png)
01 May 18 Eschborn-Frankfurt - Rund um den Finanzplatz
![Germany Germany](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/10.png)
05-27 May 18 Giro d'Italia
![Italy Italy](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/3.png)
13-19 May 18 Amgen Tour of California
![United States United States](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/34.png)
03-10 Jun 18 Critérium du Dauphiné
![France France](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/2.png)
09-17 Jun 18 Tour de Suisse
![Switzerland Switzerland](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/7.png)
07-29 Jul 18 Tour de France
![France France](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/2.png)
29 Jul 18 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic
![United Kingdom United Kingdom](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/57.png)
04 Aug 18 Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
![Spain Spain](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/4.png)
04-10 Aug 18 Tour de Pologne
![Poland Poland](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/8.png)
13-19 Aug 18 Binck Bank Tour
![The Netherlands/Belgium The Netherlands/Belgium](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/9.png)
19 Aug 18 EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg
![Germany Germany](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/10.png)
25 Aug 18 - 16 Sep 18 La Vuelta ciclista a España
![Spain Spain](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/4.png)
26 Aug 18 Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France
![France France](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/2.png)
07 Sep 18 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
![Canada Canada](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/11.png)
09 Sep 18 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
![Canada Canada](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/11.png)
06 Oct 18 Il Lombardia
![Italy Italy](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/3.png)
09-14 Oct 18 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey
![Turkey Turkey](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/51.png)
16-21 Oct 18 Gree-Tour of Guangxi
![China China](http://www.velowire.com/calendar/flags/38.png)
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The programme of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2018 in the Vendée department
![The Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2018 The Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2018](http://www.velowire.com/images/blog/storyimages/1001.jpg)
The programme of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2018 will thus be modified as follows:
- Wednesday 4 July 2018: opening of the Permanence and the press room
- Thursday 5 July 2018: team presentation for the Tour de France 2018
- Saturday 7 July 2018: 1st stage - Noirmoutier-en-Île > Fontenay-le-Comte - 195 km
- Sunday 8 July 2018: 2nd stage - Mouilleron-Saint Germain > La Roche-sur-Yon - 185 km
- Monday 9 July 2018: 3rd stage - Cholet > Cholet - team time trial - 35 km
- Tuesday 10 July 2018: 4th stage - La Baule > ???
For more information, you can check the article The details of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2018 in the Vendée department in France.
One less rider per team in the Tour de France, the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain
As the organisors of these races (and of some classics) had decided for 2017 already, before the UCI told them it was not going through, the PCC has decided that, starting 2018, the size of teams taking part in the three Grand Tours will be reduced from the current 9 to 8, thereby reducing the peloton size to a maximum of 176 and assisting in efforts to ensure the safety of the peloton and the rest of the race convoy.The PCC also explained that it is intended that the maximum peloton size for other races in the UCI WorldTour and the UCI Continental Circuits will also be reduced to 176, which is not the same as what the organisors had asked for: a maximum of 7 riders per team in the other races.
An evolution being "tested" in the Tour de France 2017
After having tested it already in the Tour of Switzerland this year, an evolution will also be tested in the Tour de France 2017 which will start next week in Düsseldorf and which will change the time gap for a split to three seconds – instead of one for the calculation of time gaps in stages expected to have bunch sprint finishes.This evolution is intended to address the issue of increased stress and risk during Grand Tour bunch sprints, while retaining the sporting integrity of the sprint and stage.door Thomas Vergouwen
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