Embed from Getty ImagesWorld Tour Teams Cancel Vuelta San Juan Program 2021 due to travel restrictions, and high risk.
The Argentinian government has several rules in place that will keep the World Tour squads from entering the country and being able to compete in the Vuelta San Juan this coming January. Amongst other restrictions, upon entering Argentina people must quarantine for 14 days. While a 14-day quarantine might seem practical for most people, it simply doesn’t work for professional cyclists who are about to take on a week-long stage race. Bora Hansgrohe, Israel Start-Up Nation, Deceuninck-QuickStep, and Cofidis have all decided that they will not be attending this year’s Vuelta San Juan. It’s said that the race will still take place with local teams and riders.
Traditionally the Vuelta San Juan is one of the top go to early season races where in recent years we’ve seen incredible performances from riders like Remco Evenepoel, Julian Alaphilippe, and many others showcase impressive performances before going on to have incredible seasons. But San Juan isn’t the only early season race on the 2021 Calendar that has been impacted.
The two popular alternative early season stage races to San Juan are the Tour of Colombia 2.1 and the Tour Down Under , and both races have already announced their cancellation for 2021. It’s safe to say that some uncertainty has sparked for the pro cycling season for next year. While we don’t want to make assumptions it’s hard to imagine that racing will be easily managed in the early part of the year, and we won’t be surprised to see more cancellations. This just might make for a slightly slower start to the European racing season as riders will have to find a new approach to the Classics Season and the Giro d’italia.