More teams and races on hiatus over COVID-19 fears

More teams are putting their seasons on hold and more races are being cancelled, though Paris-Nice seems on track to start on Sunday.

Movistar on Hold

The Movistar Team announced today to halt all racing activities for its women’s and men’s programs through March 22nd, missing the following events: Paris-Nice (8-15), Tirreno-Adriatico (11-17), Ronde van Drenthe (WE, 15), Nokere Koerse (WE, 18), Milano-Sanremo (21) and Omloop van de Westhoek (WE, 22). The Trofeo Alfredo Binda, also scheduled for March 22nd, was postponed until June 2nd last night.

RCS Sport Cancels More Races

Following confirmation by local authorities that they are unable to grant appropriate authorizations for the event, RCS Sport announced that the Tirreno-Adriatico, scheduled for 11-17 March, is cancelled from its original dates.

Furthermore, RCS Sport has made the decision to cancel Milan-Sanremo, scheduled for 21 March, and Il Giro di Sicilia, scheduled for 1-4 April.

RCS Sport will request the UCI, via the Italian Cycling Federation, to allocate new dates on the international cycling calendar for the three races.

Gazprom-Rusvelo Pauses

General Manager of Gazprom-RusVelo Renat Khamidulin made a statement after RCS Sport cancelled Tirreno-Adriatico

“We all understand the situation with the cancellation of races in March and in this situation we support the decisions of race organizers. With no doubt, that is a difficult situation for the riders who were following their sport goals and preparing for the specific races, which were canceled. Having considered the current situation the management of Gazprom-RusVelo decided to give our riders a short time period to morally recover from the current situation. We will organize a training camp in the mid of March in order to build up for the upcoming races in April.”

Paris-Nice Continues

Despite the absence of several high caliber teams, Paris-Nice will go on, starting on March 8 from Plaisir.

Deceuninck-Quick Step‘s Julian Alaphilippe will use the race for his 2020 debut on home soil and is expected to animate things with defending champion Egan Bernal and the rest of Team INEOS on hiatus.

Former winner of both the points and best young rider jerseys at Paris-Nice, Alaphilippe will be joined at the fourth World Tour event of the season by seven teammates: national champions Sam Bennett, a three-time stage winner here, Michael Mørkøv, and Bob Jungels, Zdenek Stybar, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne victor Kasper Asgreen, Tim Declercq and Yves Lampaert.

Mitchelton-SCOTT Launches Zwift Race Series

Mitchelton-SCOTT will pay homage to the cancelled races, launching ‘BikeExchange – Where the World Rides Series’ during non-racing period. The series will see the team and its fans ride, race and interact via the Zwift platform.

The ‘BikeExchange – Where the World Rides Series’ is aimed at keeping riders and team staff stimulated during the non-racing period, as well as providing a unique opportunity for cycling fans to ride and interact with their favourite stars.

The Series will launch with a gravel ride, paying homage to the cancelled Strade Bianche races, this weekend.

To get involved, fans can sign up to the event online here via the Zwift Companion app.