The UCI is defending their actions regarding the schedule changes for the 2025 RideLondon Classic.

The 2025 WWT calendar, released this morning, is primarily a slight change in dates, with most of the races that were moved for the Paris Olympics in 2024 returning to their original locations.

However, the Ride London Classic was moved back a week from the May 23-25 weekend to June 1, and organizers claimed on Friday that the change was made without "consultation or advance warning." They added that they had to cancel the three-day stage race because major events in central London need to be planned far in advance.

Cycling News asked the UCI for a response to the organizers' decision and comments.

In a statement sent to Cycling News, the UCI defended their decision, claiming that they "have been actively engaged with the event organizers since the beginning of the year to find an alternative date." He added that the cancellation of the 2025 race was a decision "the UCI regrets."

The UCI went on to claim that "the dates requested by the Ford Ride London Classic are not available because they overlap with the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, which is part of a three-race block in Spain."

"It should be noted that these three Spanish competitions will be held consecutively to reduce team travel. In addition, a fundamental principle of the UCI Women's World Tour is that they should not be held in duplicate."

"The UCI Women's World Tour is a competition of the same type as the UCI Women's World Tour.

The UCI further justified its decision on the schedule change by claiming that it was an effect of the change in the dates of the national championships to the normal pre-2024 calendar.

"The change in dates for the Ford Ride London Classic is due to the fact that the National Championships, normally held in the last week of June, will be held one week earlier in 2024 due to the Paris Olympics," the UCI said in a statement.

"This means that in 2024 the Ford Ride London Classic will be held in May; for 2025, the National Championships will return to their standard schedule and events on the 2025 UCI international calendar will need to be rescheduled accordingly."

"For 2025, national championships will return to the standard schedule."

"For the UCI Women's World Tour, it should be noted that all competitions except the Ford Ride London Classic have accepted that schedule."

"For the UCI International Calendar, the UCI International Calendar will be changed accordingly.

In 2023, the Ride London Classic was held May 26-28, and in 2022, its first year as a stage race, it was held May 27-29. In the two years prior to that, the event was cancelled due to a pandemic; prior to that, it was a one-day classic held in late July or early August.