The UCI announced Friday that it will move the 2020 Mountain Bike Cross Country World Championships to Leogang, Austria, to be held in conjunction with the Downhill and Pump Track World Championships, which were already scheduled to take place October 5-11. [The UCI applauds the decision of the organizers and the Austrian Cycling Federation and is pleased to be able to maintain the annual event representing this discipline in 2020. The health of the riders and all those involved remains the top priority and we stress that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure this."

The UCI has been forced to postpone the World Mountain Bike Cross Country Championships due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The World Championships were originally scheduled to take place June 25-28 in Albstadt, Germany, but were moved earlier than usual to avoid a conflict with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Games have now been postponed until 2021.

In addition to the postponement of the World Championships, the sport's governing body also had to postpone each round of this year's Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar.

After consultation with stakeholders within the discipline, the UCI also announced a revised World Cup calendar that includes four cross-country and six downhill rounds between September 5 and November 1.

The World Cup calendar will open with Lenzerheide (Switzerland) on September 5-6, followed by Val di Sole (Italy) on September 12-13, Les Gets (France) on September 19-20, and Nove Mesto na Morave (Czech Republic) from September 29 to October 4 (two races).

After that, the next two rounds will be held at the same venue.

The series then moves to Maribor, Slovenia, October 15-18, and Ruza, Portugal, October 29-November 1, both in downhill only, with two races each.

The series was originally scheduled to have 10 events, six Olympic/cross-country short track and eight downhill, but as a result of the pandemic, four organizers were forced to cancel their events: Losinj (Croatia), Fort William (UK), Vallnord Pal Arinsal (Andorra) and Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada).

"The new calendar for next September-November will consist of six venues, three of which will host two rounds, and the UCI would like to thank the mountain biking community for its spirit of cooperation that has made it possible to establish a solid and attractive calendar in such a short time, despite the difficult circumstances. The UCI would like to thank the mountain biking community for their spirit of cooperation that has made it possible to establish a robust and attractive calendar in such a short time, despite the difficulties," said a press statement.

In addition, the UCI Governing Board approved a qualifying system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Mountain biking qualifying would have ended on May 27, 2020, but the IOC approved:

Points awarded for the two UCI World Cup weekends during the 2021 season will be taken into account in the ranking on March 3, 2020. The weekends are yet to be determined and will be notified at a later date.

The UCI also announced details for BMX and BMX Freestyle, as well as the qualification system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The UCI had already announced a revised World Tour calendar for men and women on May 5. The competition schedule for the other categories of road cycling will be announced by May 20.

The UCI stated that it is currently working with its partner Flanders Classics on the UCI Cyclocross World Cup for the 2020-2021 season, working with various organizers. [The announcement of the 2020 UCI World Cup calendar and the 2020 UCI World Championships is great news for mountain biking, which has been severely affected by the coronavirus.

"Following the announcement of the pro road cycling calendar, this is another step towards the resumption of the cycling season this summer. With the Olympic and Paralympic qualification systems confirmed, athletes can now move forward with their training and competition schedules for next year's Tokyo Games.

"While our calendar remains dependent on the international health situation, we are moving in the right direction and I thank the cycling family for once again showing their sense of responsibility, solidarity and courage during this very difficult time for everyone.