The 2020 Tour of Britain is moving ahead with plans for this year's race, despite the fact that the date conflicts with the Tour de France, which was postponed due to the blockade of all of Great Britain.

With the UCI calendar changing the Tour de France to an August 29 start, the British race, which was scheduled to start in Penzance on September 6 and finish in Aberdeen on September 13, is now in direct competition with the biggest event of the season.

In a statement to Cycling News, Sweet Spot confirmed that the new Tour de France dates would not affect its plans.

"We have no plans to change the dates of the Tour of Britain. We are still working towards holding the race in September, but keeping in mind that this is only possible if wider circumstances allow.

In previous years, the British race has had to contend with a conflict with the Vuelta a España, but a clash with the rescheduled Tour de France would be an entirely different proposition.

"It was a bit of a slapstick affair," Roberts said.

"The only surprise is that we weren't consulted; I don't even know if the UCI consulted British Cycling. But I don't think the UCI can hear everyone's views under such difficult circumstances."

"I don't think the UCI could have consulted with everyone," Roberts said.

Roberts added that it would be a "pleasant surprise" if the Tour de France took place, but that if it did, the Tour of Britain would "probably" also take place.

"The stance we are adopting is that even if the virus takes a back seat, if it coincides with the Tour of Britain, it will bring a lot of joy to a lot of people. We are working as usual and looking ahead."

Roberts does not feel that the clash with the Tour will diminish the quality of British racing.

"We always have a schedule conflict with the Vuelta, but that hasn't been a particular problem, and many riders use the Tour of Britain as preparation for the World Championships. I'm not saying the Tour de Britain won't have an impact, but it will attract big teams and big names."

Another thorny issue to be resolved is simultaneous TV coverage of both races, which, according to Roberts, Sweet Spot is "working closely with ITV" to resolve.

"Since our race day coincides with the rest day and flat stage of the Tour, we are considering moving the start time up as we believe that many people will want to see our stage finish rather than the stage start time.

"In fact, we may end up with a live cycling feast every day, plus nightly highlights from both races.

One option he was wary of, however, was the proposal to run the Tour of Britain behind closed doors.

"I don't know if we can really run the race 'privately,'" Roberts said.

"The government will give us instructions, but obviously we can't run the race under closed conditions. We can prevent people from traveling to watch the race, but we can't prevent people from standing on their doorstep when the race is taking place. But we can do nothing less than follow all public health and government instructions and be vigilant.