"Now that the UCI has released its communiqué and the Tour de France dates are set, other races can find their place on the calendar," Gillen tells Cycling News.
"But regardless, the biggest concern in the Vuelta organization is overcoming this health crisis. Before the race can take place, society has to get back to normal. So health comes first, but that doesn't stop us from working on what we want after we get through this."
Guillén is at pains to say that the Vuelta a España, and any bicycle race, will not be held "unless the safety of the citizens and riders is guaranteed." Rather than take risks, he hopes the Vuelta and other Grand Tours will serve "to create hope." [Just as the Giro d'Italia was held in 1946 after World War II and called the Giro della Rinascita (Giro of Renewal). There are also possible parallels with the 1968 Tour de France. After the turmoil in France in May of that year, the French national authorities reportedly ordered the event to be held as a way to show that life was normal as usual.
"If there is one thing this pandemic teaches us, it is that we can get through this difficult time thanks to a concerted, joint effort, and the Grand Tour is an expression of that effort. It's a trademark of this country," says Guillen, 11]
." So this year, I hope and wish that the three Grand Tours can once again play their part."
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It is worth remembering, however, that the coronavirus has hit Spain particularly hard, and Guillén would not discuss any specific details about the dates of the Vuelta, or whether it will start in the Netherlands as planned.
Rather, he insists that the veil of secrecy that the UCI is drawing over the details of the calendar should remain intact for now. The Vuelta is scheduled to take place in November, nearly three months later than usual.
"We are in exceptional circumstances and exceptional circumstances require exceptional responses. If one race calendar is shortened to the beginning of the year, it is logical to assume that the other can be extended," Gillen asserted.
"From there, no one, including the UCI or the organizers, is going to accept a definitive schedule that puts cyclists' health at risk.
Gijen also noted that "November is not the same in one part of Europe as in another. While it tends to be colder in Spain, it is relatively drier than north of the Pyrenees, he added, and "a race that starts on November 1 is not the same as one that takes place on November 30."
As for the practical problem of holding a Grand Tour during a lockdown, Gijen said that Unipublic is hampered by the fact that it is impossible to travel. The next goal is to have the place as ready as possible under the circumstances for when the lockdown ends.
Of the three Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España is by far the most traveled in terms of calendar, starting in late spring in the early mid-1930s, moving briefly to midsummer in the 1950s, and then back to April. The most controversial, however, was in 1995, the last major reform of the cycling calendar until 2020.
But if the Vuelta's change from spring to fall and the consequent move of the World Championships from August to late September felt like a major groundswell in the cycling calendar at the time, it paled in comparison to this year's reorganization of the race schedule. Besides, as Guillen points out, despite initial concerns, it has brought clear benefits to cycling's third Grand Tour.
"Changing the Vuelta to September was not so dramatic, but important, intelligent, and necessary.
Gijen concluded that the Vuelta would be as prepared as possible for whatever eventually happened.
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