Organizers of the Ronde van Drenthe Women's World Tour and Men's 1.1 rank races have already appealed to the UCI to change the dates from the usual March to October in 2021 to avoid another cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 Women's World Tour race was scheduled for March 15, just as the pandemic was beginning in Europe, with an average of less than 100 new COVID-19 cases per day in the Netherlands. The latest figures are even higher, with more than 10,000 new cases per day.

The UCI announced its 2021 calendar and the Women's World Tour race was scheduled for Sunday, March 14. However, organizers do not want the March event to take place due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and the reinstatement of restrictions on rallies in October.

"We don't expect the event to take place in March," said organizer Femmy van Ism. Together with the Drenthe Safe Community and the mayor of Lohoose van Hoogheveen, we have submitted a request to hold the event on the last weekend in October."

According to the race website, the UCI has received requests from several organizers to move the dates from earlier in the season to later in the year to avoid the uncertainty that has plagued the 2020 season and said it would announce revised dates in January.

"A lot of cycling organizations are struggling with the virus, but also with all the special measures. So we just have to wait and see. But if we want to hold something in October, we have to start in April. So we need clarification as soon as possible."

Van Ism said he did not want to hold the race on a closed course like the one used for the Dutch road championships.

"We seriously considered it with the province of Drenthe and others, but a course with only 30 runs of VAM-berg is not appropriate for the World Tour. I sincerely hope that next year we will be able to organize another normal competition with a large audience"

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The 2020 Ronde van Drenthe was cancelled the day before the race.

"Naturally, this caused us a lot of grief, but it also cost us money," says van Ism. 'Some of the expenses already incurred for 2020 were paid to us in the form of Corona Support. Our sponsors were very understanding and immediately promised to donate to 2021. It is only with our cooperation that we are able to keep Ronde van Drenthe alive in these special times."