The 2020 UCI Road World Championships will be held as planned in Aigle Martigny in September. Despite earlier concerns that the event might be moved elsewhere due to coronavirus restrictions in place in Switzerland, the local organizing committee has confirmed that it is still working to host the world championships from September 20-27.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, the organizing committee also announced that the 2020 Swiss National Championships would be held on the World Championships circuit on August 22, describing the event as a "proper rehearsal."

"After reviewing the health conditions and restrictions to be implemented by the Swiss Federal Council in agreement with the International Cycling Union (UCI), the cantons of Vaud and Valais, and the communes of Aigle and Martigny, the Organizing Committee is moving forward to finalize the event," the World Championship organizers said in a Friday announced.

Switzerland has begun relaxing its blockade restrictions in recent weeks, allowing gatherings of up to 1,000 people as of this week, as long as contact person tracking can be guaranteed. Gatherings of more than 1,000 people, including sporting events, are prohibited until the end of August.

Doubts about the feasibility of holding the World Championships in Aigle and Martigny emerged in April after the Coronavirus pandemic postponed much of the cycling calendar, and the UCI considered holding the event at a later date at alternative venues in Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates Marca reported in May.

The Swiss organizing committee said at the time that a decision on the Eagle Martini World Championships would be made in late June. Friday's announcement meant that the World Championships would be scheduled for the week after the Tour de France, but the committee's co-chairs cautioned against a coronavirus pandemic.

"Today we continue to prepare for the event. We are very grateful for the trust of the International Cycling Union (UCI), local authorities, sponsors, and the many volunteers who have registered, and we are very pleased with the passion of cycling fans for our race and its special circuit," Gregory Devaux and Alexandre Devon said. However, the fact that the Swiss Road Championships will be held on our circuit on August 22, 2020 is a strong sign to help us validate our approach and fine-tune our procedures."

Patrick Hanger, co-president of the Swiss Cycling Federation, welcomed the hosting of the national championships on the demanding Aigle Martigny course and expressed hope that the world championships will be held as planned.

"We are hopeful that improved health will allow us to host the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Aigle Martigny. A number of measures are already in place to promote Swiss cycling at this event," Hanger said. This positive development will also give the riders a chance to compete in the UCI Road World Championships. In this exceptional season, there could be no better objective for them."

"We are very pleased that the UCI has decided to take this step," said Hanger, "and we are very proud of it.

The Swiss time trial championships will be held on July 12 in Belp, but both of the country's World Tour events, the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse, will not be held in 2020 due to a coronavirus outbreak.

The 2020 World Championships will be held on September 20-27, despite the Tour de France being moved from July to August 29-September 20.

The elite men's individual time trial is currently scheduled to take place on the first day of the World Championships and will therefore clash with the final stage of the Tour. The elite women's and under-23 men's time trial will take place the following day, while the team time trial mixed relay, which kicked off last year in Yorkshire, will take place on Wednesday, September 23.

The women's and men's elite road races will be held on the weekend of September 26-27.