The UCI issued a press release this Saturday calling on the cycling community to take drastic action. All in order to protect the health of athletes, and limit the spread of the virus.
Thus, the organization first calls to cancel all races until at least April 3 (even if several competitions have already been canceled, such as the Tour of Flanders, the Giro, or the Ghent-Wevelgem, between other).
“The safety of athletes being a priority of the UCI missions, all organizers are expressly asked to cancel any cycling event on the UCI international calendar in territories identified at risk by the World Health Organization (WHO) ", It is written in the press release.
In addition, the UCI requests a suspension of the classifications, as well as the qualification period for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Several events have not completed their qualifying phase, such as mountain biking, BMX racing, BMX freestyle and para-cycling. The press release also recalls that requests for postponements will be processed later, if ever this is possible.
"These important decisions are guided by the will of the world cycling authority to ensure, as far as possible, the health safety of cyclists, teams, organizers, partners, the media and all those involved, including the public, as well that fair competitions for athletes and their teams ”, is justified by the International Cycling Union.
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