Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme hailed the new schedule changes for 2020 as a success for the cycling world.

The new dates for the Tour de France (August 29-September 20) were finalized three weeks ago, but on Tuesday the UCI revealed the full schedule for the rest of the shortened season.

In addition to the Tour de France, the Amaury Sport Organisation also supports the running of the Vuelta a España, which has been reduced to 18 stages and will be held from October 20 to November 8, coinciding with the Giro d'Italia. Similarly, the Criterium du Dauphiné, postponed to August as a preparatory race for the Tour, has been reduced to five stages.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Roubaix will also overlap with the Giro, on October 4 and 25 respectively, while La Flèche Wallonne, another one-day race run by ASO, will be held on September 30.

"What pleases me is that cycling has spoken with one voice to create this three-and-a-half-month calendar," Prudhomme told the French newspaper L'Equipe (opens in new tab).

"Naturally, discussions took place between us, the organizers, and representatives of the teams and riders. We had a number of meetings, all of which were constructive. We worked in a spirit of cooperation to make an exceptional calendar a success under exceptional circumstances.

"Normally we are against overlaps, but this time it was totally different. Marc Madio said we needed as many races as possible for as many riders as possible. Each team will be racing on sometimes three fronts. It's important for the teams and for the riders."

The teams were not only racing on the same front, they were also racing on different fronts.

Despite the spirit of unity, Prudhomme acknowledged that the Tour de France was favored and that other calendars were made for the Tour de France.

The French Grand Tour outstrips all other races in terms of its global reach and publicity for sponsors, and while there are complaints that ASO has too much monopoly on its revenues and power, the Tour is crucial to surviving the COVID-19 pandemic There seemed to be an understanding that.

"The Tour de France set the dates, everyone knew that the Tour de France was the top priority, and the calendar was built around that axis while respecting national sanitary regulations. It is the UCI that makes the final decision," Prudhomme said.

"There was a consensus that 'let's propose a united calendar' and a common will to find a solution to organize as many races as possible in a short period of time. Of course, there will always be differences, but the cycling community moved forward together.

Prudhomme spoke in a celebratory tone about the new calendar, but acknowledged that it was tentative, recognizing that the pandemic could develop in many ways between now and August.

"The most important thing is health, but it is about prospects. The right to hope for the rider, this is absolutely necessary. For everyone, it is simply a goal. But it all depends, in effect, on the state of health in France and elsewhere," he told Le Figaro magazine (opens in new tab).

Prudhomme had previously insisted that the Tour de France was not to be held "behind closed doors," but on Tuesday he appeared to have softened on the idea of limiting public participation.

French officials have indicated that no major sporting events will be held before September, and the Tour, which opens in Nice on August 29, may have to impose restrictions on some or all of its races. Prudhomme said, "Obviously, it will be in line with the regulations in place at that time," suggesting that he is prepared to repeat the measures imposed in Paris-Nice in March.

"We have already faced that situation recently in Paris-Nice. On the first day there was a limit of 5,000, then 1,000, then 100.

"We are obviously going to respect the authorities. We have had a number of meetings with the Ministry of Sport and the various committees and working groups set up by the UCI."

Finally, Prudhomme confirmed that despite hopes for possible additional slots from teams like Mathieu Van Der Pol's Alpecin Phoenix, there are still 22 teams on the Tour de France start line, as reported by Cycling News confirmed.

However, the Dauphiné will now have 23 teams in the race after ASO invited France's Total Direct Energy to compete.