The postponed 2020 Tour de France may set faster times than recent events, thanks to the mandatory suspension of competition, speculates Sunweb sport director Matt Winston.

Team Ineos has forced negative races like a locomotive since its dominant showing at the Tour in 2012.

Assuming the season revision goes as planned, the World Tour peloton will have three one-day races and two stage races (the Tour de Pollogne on August 5-9 and the Criterium du Dauphiné on August 12-16) before the Tour Grande Parc on August 29. The race will be contested.

The World Tour was suspended after Paris-Nice in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, players from Monaco and Spain were unable to train outdoors.

Winston said that the cumulative effect, coupled with the UCI's "condensed" rescheduling, could cause teams to race the Tour in a different way than what has been expected under Ineos' reign.

"I think the riders coming into the Tour will be fresher than they have been," he said.

"This year everyone will be reset and fresh for the Tour, so there is a chance for faster times.

However, Winston also countered that the preparation of the Grand Tour contenders right before the race may not be that different from previous years, when many riders have replaced their training camps with competitions.

"In the past five years, especially those who are considered Grand Tour contenders, they haven't done that many races beforehand. They've raced at the beginning of the year, then gone to the high country and trained up to the Tour."

"I think sometimes the guys who have traditionally done a little bit more racing run out of legs in the last week when they haven't done that race," Winston added.

"The final week might be a little less grippy. It's going to be pretty interesting. We'll see a lot of fresh, motivated racers."

More different strategies and results may unfold in the early one-day races, such as Strade Bianche on August 1, Milan-San Remo on August 8, and Il Lombardia on August 15.

"It's the same for all teams. No one has been through this process before. I think all the teams at this level have people who have really good expertise and can look at the data, look at the numbers," Winston said.

"San Remo is this weekend of the month. And we're moving it. Now everybody has to think in a different way. How do you go into that race?

"Like you said, it's a 300km race, it's the third weekend of the race, and who knows what your legs are going to be like after 300km.

"It's going to be a pretty exciting challenge for all the teams.