Next year’s Tour de France has been officially rescheduled in order to avoid conflicting with the Tokyo Olympics. The International Cycling Union announced that the sport’s marquee event will begin a week earlier than originally planned.

The new start date for the 2021 Tour de France is June 26. The race is scheduled to finish on July 18, five days before the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 2020 Summer Games were officially postponed by the International Olympic Committee on March 24 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The opening ceremony had been scheduled for July 24.

The 2020 Tour de France also received a new date because of the pandemic. On April 14, cycling’s top race was moved from June 27 to Aug. 29.

Australian Rohan Dennis, a potential gold medal winner, had previously said he might skip the Tour de France if it interfered with the Olympics. Dennis has been the world time trial champion in each of the last two years.

Egan Bernal is the reigning Tour de France champion. He became the first Columbian to claim the yellow jersey.

The UCI announced that next year’s schedule will feature 35 events, starting in Australia in January and ending with event in China in October.

Egan Bernal Tour de France
Egan Bernal of Colombia and Team INEOS Yellow Leader Jersey / Peloton / during the 106th Tour de France 2019, Stage 21 a 128km stage from Rambouillet to Paris Champs-Élysées / TDF / #TDF2019 / @LeTour / on July 28, 2019 in Paris, France. Peter De Voecht-Pool/Getty Images
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