Patrick Lefevere said his Deceuninck-QuickStep team would collapse and pro cycling would be devastated if there is no pro racing this year.
While the UCI has issued a revised calendar that sees
racing resume on August 1st and involves all three Grand Tours, and the
classics, being held there is considerable doubt about whether the plans will
go ahead.
The Covid19 crisis remains extreme across many parts of
Europe and even in those countries, like Ireland, where restrictions are a
easing the time table for that process is prolonged.
Because pro racing at times attracts very large crowds at
the roadside and involves a large number of people on the races moving from
place to place, the logistics appear high-risk for the spread of Covid19.
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Lefevere has warned that unless pro racing goes ahead, as
provisionally planned, pro cycling is in deep trouble.
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"If we don't race this year, I'll no longer have a team," Lefevere told Sporza.be. "Fifty per cent of the teams will disappear from the peloton.
"Team Ineos are sitting on a mountain of money,
and the French are getting part of their wages paid back by the state. They
will have fewer difficulties, but my team will be in trouble.
"I'm not stupid. I am an accountant by training, and
I’ve been in the game 40 years. If there’s no racing anymore, many cycling
teams will die.
"I'm known as the most critical person in the cycling
world. But I’ll not complain about the calendar. In the current circumstances,
we should be humble and pray that we can still race this year."
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