The Vuelta a Madrid has become the latest race in the 2021 season to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The UCI 2.1-ranked four-day stage race, which was set to run May 6-9, was also cancelled last season due to the pandemic, and becomes the fifth early-season Spanish race to be cancelled or postponed in 2021.
Vuelta a Madrid organisers, the Madrid Cycling Federation, announced that the health situation around COVID-19 and the infection rates in the region have led to the race's cancellation.
"The Madrid Cycling Federation, as the organising entity of the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid, regrets to announce the suspension of its edition scheduled for 2021," read the statement.
"The serious health situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with great incidence in our community, makes it impossible to carry it out with sufficient guarantees for riders, team staff, and the organisation.
"The federation will work to develop new and exciting projects in grassroots cycling for 2021, and with the hope of being able to definitively resume the Vuelta in 2022."
The race which was won by Arkéa-Samsic's Clément Russo in 2019, joins the Challenge Mallorca, Vuelta a Murcia, Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Vuelta a Andalucía, and the women's versions of the latter two races, among the early-season Spanish races on the postponed/cancelled list.
The UCI 2.2 Tour de Bretagne also announced it would be postponed due to the health situation and has requested a new date in September. The race was due to be held in late April, one week before the women's 2.1-ranked Bretagne Ladies Tour Ceratizit.
The one-day Clásica de Almería, to be held on February 14, is set to be the first Spanish race held in 2021, while the Volta a Catalunya, GP Indurain, Itzulia, Klasika Primavera, Vuelta a Asturias – set for March through May – are still on the calendar.
Other road races on the UCI calendar which have been postponed or cancelled include the Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Vuelta a San Juan, Tour Colombia 2.1, and Volta ao Algarve.
