The 2020 HC calendar can now be revealed. There are 7 bands in total, all with 10 RDs or 11 RDs.
PCT teams will select 6 HC bands each with the remaining spots in each race open to CT teams to try their luck against the best their upstairs neighbours have to offer. Each band has a variety of locales and terrains.
Details on how and when to pick these bands (or enter these races for CT teams) will come at a later date.
Band 1
Down Under Classic
Australia
2
Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Spain
6
Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne
Belgium
2
Band 1 includes the traditional curtain raiser of the PCT division with the Down Under Classic. Vuelta al Pais Vasco moves down from PTHC to HC and is a stage race tilted towards the puncheurs that can do a good TT. Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne meanwhile retains it's spot and race category on the MG calendar as a flat cobbled classic.
Second ITT going to be changed to flat.
Band 2
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Austria
7
Tour of Ukraine
Ukraine
3
Band 2 is the only band with only 2 races in it. Both are stages races that should according to the previous winners list attract some of the best stage racers. Both races feature difficult uphill finishes and a considerable amount of TT kilometres.
Both TTs going to be changed to more flat
Band 3
Corsica International
France
3
Arab Tour
ARE
5
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Belgium
2
Band 3 features three new races to the HC calendar. First of Corsica International went from C1 category last year to PTHC, but made a late switch into HC. With a short TT and a mountain top finish preceded by a flat stage, it will be another good test for the stage racers. The Arab Tour will be a chance for pure TTers and sprinters, 2 flat TTs and 3 flat stages for the sprinters. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the other PTHC race that made the late switch to HC and is well established on the MG calendar, going back from 2008.
Band 4
Strade Bianche
Italy
2
Tour of Cyprus
Cyprus
4
Tour of Lithuania
Lithuania
4
Band 4 offers plenty of hilly terrain along all 3 of it's races. Strade Bianche moves down from PTHC well know for it's hilly parcour across the white gravel roads of Tuscany. Tour of Cyprus is back for it's 3rd year on the calendar. Transitioning from a partly cobbled race to a mountain-hill hybrid race, it's back to give the punchy climbers a chance at an overall victory. The Tour of Lithuania is a new race on the calendar, but features a profile eerily similar (it's the same) to the previous Tour of Beijing.
Profiles are correct, stage names and country will be changed.
Band 5
Tour of California
USA
7
Veenendaal - Veenendaal
Netherlands
2
Grands Prix Cyclistes
Canada
2
Band 5 has a North American vibe. It starts off with the Tour of California in it's 2nd season on the HC calendar. The race starts and finishes with a TT, with also hilly and mountain stages sandwiched in between. Veenendaal very much retains it's spot in the HC calendar as one of the sprinters classics. Grands Prix Cyclistes used to be 2 separate one day races on the calendar, but they have been raced together as a 2 day stage race since 2015. Spending the last few seasons on the CT calendar it should now attact all the best puncheurs from the PCT division.
Basically same as last year
Band 6
Geraardsbergen-Bosberg
Belgium
2
Berlin ProRace
Germany
2
Tour de Pologne
Pologne
7
Band 6 is all on European soil with it's races. Geraardsbergen-Bosberg. The name of the race says it all really. It's a circuit race using the iconic Flandrien climbs of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg. The Berlin ProRace is as flat as they come, a perfect one day race for the sprinters. Last in the band we have the Tour de Pologne. Moving down from PTHC, it is a difficult hilly stage race that feature a mid-mountain stage and finishes with a TT.
Band 7
Barbados Cycling Festival
Barbados
4
Giro dell'Emelia
Italy
2
Tour of the Middle East
QAT/UAE/OMN
4
Band 7 takes us firstly to the Barbados Cycling Festival and what a festival it is. A festival for sprinters that is. The race is back for it's 4th year and can be expected to host the best sprinters the PCT division has on offer. Next we have the Giro dell'Emelia classic, with the famous finish atop San Luca overlooking Bologna it was serve as the last race of the PCT calendar. The Tour of the Middle East is a well established race at this point, featuring every year since 2013. While some sprinters might enjoy the opening couple of stages, it is still very much a race for the climbers.
I must have missed the Ming Dynasty getting buried in Lithuania, that's wild
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Down Under Classic
Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Tour of Ukraine
Corsica International
Strade Bianche
Tour of Cyprus
Tour of Lithuania
Tour of California
Veenendaal - Veenendaal
Grands Prix Cyclistes
Berlin ProRace
Tour de Pologne
Tour of the Middle East
