The 2020 European Championships will be held in Plouët, France, from August 24 to 28, the European Cycling Union (UEC) announced Monday. The championships were originally scheduled to be held in Trento in September, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Italian city of Trento postponed the event until 2021.

The rescheduled 2020 European Championships will be held the week before the Tour de France Grande Pearl in Nice on August 29, prior to road race championships across Europe.

The men's and women's individual time trials will take place on Monday, August 24, with the elite men's road race on Wednesday, August 26. The elite women's road race will take place on Thursday, August 27, while the junior road race and mixed relay team time trial will close the European Championships the following day.

Last year, Remco Evenpole won the elite men's time trial in Alkmaar, while Elia Viviani took the road title. In the elite women's race, Ellen van Dijk won the time trial and Amy Peters won the road race, giving the Netherlands a double crown.

In a statement on Monday, the UEC said that the schedule was devised "so that elite athletes can first compete in the national championships scheduled for August 23 in most European countries and then travel to Nice, France for the start of the Tour de France."

The European Championships program will also allow her to compete in the World Tour race, the Bretagne Classic West France, to be held in Plouay on August 25. The GP de Plouay Lorient, corresponding to the Women's World Tour, will be held on August 26.

"Considering a particularly difficult season due to the health crisis in COVID-19, it is definitely a great accomplishment and pride to be able to host the European Road Championships," said Rocco Cattaneo, president of the UEC. "We are very proud to be able to host the European Road Championships," said Rocco Cattaneo, president of the UEC. " Since the beginning of the health crisis that affected the whole world, we have worked energetically to save as many of our scheduled events as possible, and with the postponement of the 2021 Trento Championships (Italy), we have launched a series of contacts in order not to lose our major events."

Cattaneo also stressed that the championships would be held "in close cooperation with the Brittany Classic Ouest France, scheduled for Tuesday, August 25."

Brittany will also host the French National Championships on the weekend preceding the European Championships in Plouay. Plouëc, the original host city, declined to host the French championships due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic, but the French Cycling Federation confirmed that Grand-Champs in the Morbihan department would serve as a substitute.

The Morbihan town of Sarzeau, where UCI president David Lapartient is mayor, was rumored to be one of the candidates to host the French championships.

The individual time trial will be held on Friday, August 21, and the road race on the weekend of August 22-23. Defending champion and Morbihan native Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) will compete in the Grand Champs, and according to Ouest France, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) will also compete in the French championships.