There have also been some changes to the positioning of races, with the Tour of California having moved to May, alongside the Giro d'Italia. This means that Volta Ciclista al Catalunya has also been moved, and will create a challenging decision for managers as it is race alongside Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. 3 stage races at once - who will you send where?
Finally, in an attempt to boost the Tour de France's startlist, the Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt has been downgraded.
Continental
The season will now begin and end with a HC classic - the Bloemfontein Classic in January, and the Japan Cup in October. Both are new HC races - of which there are still 20 - as are Vattenfalls Classic, Tour de San Luis and the Tour Meditteraneen. The French race providing a HC TTT for teams this season.
There are also 22 new C1 races and a couple to pick out are the Corsica International, using the route of the real life Criterium International this year (the Man Game Criterium International retains its usual route), and also the Tour of America - the longest C1 race in the game, matching the Grand Tours at 21 stages.
In total, there will be 86 continental races this season - an expansion of the 79 this year - providing a little extra choice for managers of continental teams.
Other Races
The World Championships route will once again be voted on closer to the time, while the Tour de l'Avenir has moved from September to August, and will no longer clash with a ProTour race. We have also included a brand new Criterium Series.
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The race profiles for each race are currently being prepared, and will be released sometime in the next week.
