Although the coronavirus outbreak could result in the 2020 World Championships being postponed to next April, a representative of the organizing committee said it was "unlikely" that such a step would be taken.

According to La Dernière Heure (opens in new tab), the postponed World Championships will be held the week after Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the 2021 World Championships will be held as scheduled in Flanders the following September. This means that the 2020 World Champion Rainbow Jersey, crowned in April, will be held for only five months.

However, this hypothesis was debunked by Nicolas Voigt of the Martigny Aigle 2020 organizing committee.

"This option has not been completely ruled out, but it is unlikely that we will use it," Voide told La Dernière Heure (opens in new tab).

The 2020 World Championships are scheduled for September 20-27 in Martigny and Aigle, Switzerland, and despite the revision of the cycling calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the elite men's time trial will be held on September 20 The competition will remain on its original schedule, even though it coincides with the final stage of the Tour de France on September 20.

The Marca newspaper reported in May that the UCI is considering the possibility of holding the World Championships in alternative locations in Oman, Qatar, or the United Arab Emirates after 2020.

Public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, including sporting events, are currently prohibited in Switzerland, but in late June the organizing committee announced that the World Championships would be held in Martigny and Aigle as planned.

The 2020 Swiss Championships will be held on August 22 on the World Championship circuit as a "proper rehearsal" for the main event.

The UCI has made no secret of its desire to hold the World Championships on the original dates; when the UCI announced its cost-cutting measures in early April, it stressed the importance of holding profitable events held under the auspices of the UCI, namely the World Championships and World Cup.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar was devastated by the cancellations, as were the Waterloo and Dublin rounds of the Cyclocross World Cup.