When it comes to competitive cycling, there is no greater prize in the sport than the Tour de France. However, in 2020 there is a scheduling issue that will see riders have to make a tough choice between racing at either the Tour de France or Olympics. Here’s why the riders will be facing that difficult decision.

Are we going to see the Tour de France and Olympics merge at Tokyo 2020?

Recovery time

If you’ve overdone it at the gym or while exercising, it can seem like it takes forever for your body to heal. Imagine pushing your body to its absolute limit and just six days later being asked to do that all over again. Plus you have to throw a flight from Paris to Tokyo into the mix.

That is the turnaround that cyclists at the Tour de France are having to face if they want to compete at both huge events in 2020. The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will see the best cyclists face off against each other, but they aren’t guaranteed to be in top shape.

Are we going to see the Tour de France and Olympics merge at Tokyo 2020?

Taking its toll

By comparison, the cyclists at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio had two weeks to recover from racing at the Tour de France. Italian national team director Davide Cassani believes riders wanting to compete for the top honors in both competitions will find it very difficult. Cassani believes the time between the Tour is too tight for Olympic hopefuls and he suggests it’s going to be a case of choosing one or the other to go for.

Maybe the answer would be to merge the competitions together, but that would take something away from them both. Instead, riders must either go for broke at the Tour and hope they meet their targets or face racing for Olympic gold on an empty tank.