Gianni Moscon will miss the 2020 Grand Tour to focus on the cobbled classics. The Team Ineos rider has not raced since March, when he was disqualified after throwing his bike at Jens Debusschere after a crash at the Cune Brussel-Cuneux.

In an interview with Spazio Ciclismo (opens in new tab), Moscon revealed that he will not participate as part of the Ineos team in the Tour de France, which runs from August 29 to September 20, and will be racing the cobbled classic, the Giro d'Italia ( He said he would forgo the Giro d'Italia (October 3-25).

"My big goal is the October classics, which will be held at the same time as Corsa Rosa," Moscon told Spazio Ciclismo (open in new tab). 'The Tour ends just before the key moment of the season for me. Team Ineos will start to win the Grand Boucle.

Moscon was banned from the 2018 Tour for punching Elie Gesbert, but was part of the Ineos team that helped Egan Bernal win the overall in 2019.

The spring classics were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and some were rescheduled for later in the season. Ghent-Wevelgem was scheduled for October 11, the Tour of Flanders for October 18, and Paris-Roubaix for October 25. Liège-Bastogne-Liège was rescheduled for October 4.

The World Tour will resume on August 1 at Strade Bianche, with Milan - San Remo and Il Lombardia also taking place in August.

Moscon will most likely resume his season at Strade Bianche, but Spazio Ciclismo has suggested that the Italian may later compete in the Tirreno Adriatico (September 7-14). He will train at altitude in the Dolomites before returning to competition. He said, "I have been training at altitude a lot in the last few years and it has worked out well.

Gabriel Rasch of Ineos Directeur Sportif called Moscon's behavior at Clune Brussel-Coulomb "unacceptable" and said his disqualification was justified. Moscon was suspended for six weeks by the team for racially abusive remarks to Kevin Reza at the 2017 Tour de Romandie.

Later that year, Moscon was accused of intentionally crashing Reza's teammate Sebastian Reichenbach at the Tre Valli Varesine. Reichenbach, who addressed Moscon's racial abuse of Reza, suffered a broken elbow and hip in the crash, but the UCI eventually dropped the complaint due to lack of video evidence.

Moscon was disqualified after the 2017 World Championship road race in Bergen for being towed by an Italian team car; in 2018, he was banned from the Tour de France and suspended for six weeks for punching Elie Gesbert ...