Tour of Catalonia centenary postponed until 2021

The 100th edition of the Tour of Catalonia has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers announced on Monday.

Due to be held from March 23 to March 29, this year's tour was initially postponed on March 12 but a compressed cycling calendar means the event will not go ahead in 2020.

"The 100th edition of the Tour of Catalonia will in the end be held in the last week of March 2021," the event's organisers said in a statement.

"The cycling calendar that the UCI has made official has been reduced to practically three months, and what we are clear about is that we want to celebrate a 100th edition with maximum guarantees and the best cyclists in the world," said Tour of Catalonia president Ruben Peris.

"We are very clear that we do not want to do the race no matter what," added Peris. "Nor did we want to do it in a reduced number of days."

The coronavirus pandemic has caused this year's Tour de France to be postponed, with new dates currently set for August 29 to September 20.