A closed-door form has been decided on the Paris-Nice cycle race, without audiences in the start and finish areas, due to the new measures linked to the coronavirus, the organizers announced on Monday. "Restrictions on access to the public will be organized at the stage start and finish sites by installing a protective airlock 100 meters from the podium for departures and 300 meters for arrivals," said ASO.The measure is applicable from the second stage, which left in the morning from Chevreuse (Yvelines) to join Châlette-sur-Loing (Loiret). The finish of the event is scheduled for Sunday in Nice.
Coronavirus-Covid 19: new protection measures at Paris-Nice. pic.twitter.com/Xal6hKbIuT
- Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 9, 2020"We are going to cancel all the activities planned with the school world and the cycling clubs," Pierre-Yves Thouault told AFP, the "Mr. Security ”from Paris-Nice and the Tour de France. "We will also communicate via social networks to limit the crowds, and dissuade the public from coming." The organizers of the "race to the sun" explained that they had made this decision "in order to comply with the ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people imposed by the Ministry of Health". They asked spectators "to respect this new instruction even if it appears to contradict the traditions of proximity to cycling".
Other precautionary measures had been taken before the start of the event, as organizer Christian Prudhomme explains: “No runner will answer the interviews and shake hands with the elected officials on the podium after a victory or after having endorsed a jersey. We have also ensured that there are only two teams maximum in each hotel. ”
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