Paris-Roubaix, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège have been scrapped from their scheduled dates due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Europe.
The sportives run in conjunction with those races have
also been cancelled for the same reason.
With Milan-Sanremo having already been cancelled, the
Tour of Flanders is now the only spring classic remaining on the calendar,
though its cancellation is now inevitable.
ASO, which owns the Tour de France, also owns Paris-Roubaix,
Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and today announced the decision to
scrap the events.
For now the races have been “postponed” though it remains to be seen how many postponed races could possibly be held later in the year.
“As part of the fight against the spread of Covid19
Amaury Sport Organisation, with the agreement of the Union Cycliste
Internationale, has decided to not organise Paris-Roubaix (April 12th), Flèche
Wallonne and Flèche Wallonne Women (April 22nd) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Women (April 26th) on their scheduled dates,” ASO said.
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The move was expected and ASO signaled when its other
event, Paris-Nice ended early last weekend, that it would be very hard to see
the classics going ahead.
“In close collaboration with the UCI and with the
assistance of the other parties concerned, the organisers have already begun
working to try to organise new dates for these monuments, races to which teams,
riders and spectators are deeply attached,” ASO added.
News of the races’ cancellation comes on the same day
British Cycling confirmed it was cancelling all racing to the end of April.
On the pro scene some events into May have been
cancelled, as the number of Covid19 cases continues to rise in Europe and
countries go into lock-down.
The UCI has called on the cycling community to stray
strong and unified, with its president David Lappartient saying he believed
racing would return soon.
“The international situation linked to the coronavirus
has accelerated sharply recently, especially in Europe, which has pushed the
authorities to take drastic measures that have a major impact on our sport in
particular,” he said.
“Faced with this unprecedented and changing situation, we
must adapt and take necessary measures to guarantee, as far as possible, the
security of people at our events as well as sporting equity.”
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