Effects of coronavirus on professional races

[Strawberry_Jams]

and there we go. Belgium races cancelled until the end of March. Not much chance of Flanders happening either.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

looks like not so much of a spring season.

i doubt ardennes classics will go on.

 

[tobydawq]

Best fall season ever?

 

[MartinGT]

Absoutley gutted form a selfish point of view as I am due to go to Belgium to watch E3 and GW. Been going to Belgium / Netherlands for years to watch the spring classics.

Fully understandable though.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

My guess is that we won't see any racing until at least May.

I'm also still surprised that Paris-Nice is on. And actually I think it's irresponsible given the current state of things.

 

[BlueRoads]

I still think a bike race like that (not the GTs) is among the things I would not cancel first.
Anfield yesterday, that seemed pretty irresponsible to me. Concerts - as much as I love them and as much as I'm gutted to probably miss some I would have liked to attend - cancel them first. Especially those held in small pubs/ cellars, where people come really close. My son's biggest christmas present looks very much done, too, okay, but PN... I don't see huge crowds cuddling or not sticking to the rules.

 

[King Boonen]

In Scotland it's being recommended that gatherings over 500 people should be cancelled from next Monday. This means tonights Rangers match against Leverkusen isn't cancelled and the fans can attend, despite the fact that the return fixture in Leverkusen has all ready been decided to be held behind closed doors, if it goes ahead. Neither is the Old Firm game on Sunday. There are also Saint Patrick's Day parades on Saturday that will bring people across from Ireland.

Talk about closing the gate after the horse has bolted...

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Already too many races gone to postpone them all, maybe they do the monuments in October but that's about it. I'd expect racing to get going again in the Tour preparation races at the earliest tbh.

 

[spalco]

Is it even possible logistically to reschudule a race like tirreno, let alone the Tour, on short (<6 months) notice?

 

[King Boonen]

Is it even possible logistically to reschudule a race like tirreno, let alone the Tour, on short (<6 months) notice?

I highly doubt it, especially as people are talking about pushing into peak holiday season.

 

[Wvv]

Heartbreaking news about the cobbled races in Flanders. And the worst - cancelling de Ronde and Roubaix - has yet to come.

Still can't understand these measures. The numbers don't justify these decisions, up until now it seem to be politics and media that made corona this big of a threat. U'd almost hope things get worse in order to really get why all of this is going on. Which is a wrong point of view on itself, I get that.

Btw: tiny, tiny chance that Gent-Wevelgem and/or Brugge-De Panne will still go on.

 

[MartinGT]

In Scotland it's being recommended that gatherings over 500 people should be cancelled from next Monday. This means tonights Rangers match against Leverkusen isn't cancelled and the fans can attend, despite the fact that the return fixture in Leverkusen has all ready been decided to be held behind closed doors, if it goes ahead. Neither is the Old Firm game on Sunday. There are also Saint Patrick's Day parades on Saturday that will bring people across from Ireland.

Talk about closing the gate after the horse has bolted...

Madness init?

Look at Cheltenham, shopping centres.

Why cancel a EPL game, yet on the same day allow a Champions League game, it's madness.

 

[Sestriere]

Heartbreaking news about the cobbled races in Flanders. And the worst - cancelling de Ronde and Roubaix - has yet to come.

Still can't understand these measures. The numbers don't justify these decisions, up until now it seem to be politics and media that made corona this big of a threat. U'd almost hope things get worse in order to really get why all of this is going on. Which is a wrong point of view on itself, I get that.

Btw: tiny, tiny chance that Gent-Wevelgem and/or Brugge-De Panne will still go on.

The only reason for the numbers not not being that high so far are these measures that are being taken. If nobody had done anything since the outbreak in China, there would be millions of people infected by now.

 

[yaco]

I suspect we will not see much racing till May.

 

[KZD]

I suspect we will not see much racing till May.

I don't think we will see any race until May and even then I have my doubts.

 

[Flamin]

and there we go. Belgium races cancelled until the end of March. Not much chance of Flanders happening either.

Ehm, yes, the chance is very big that the races will be cancelled, but it's not officially the case yet.

You might want to properly check your sources (or post a link to it). There's already enough false news.

 

[Joelsim]

Why are people on here talking about not seeing racing until May? There’s little chance of any racing this year, if there is it will be right at the end. There’s no way this will all be cleared up by May. The clue is is the words ‘moving to the delay phase’, whereby governments try to slow down the numbers catching it to allow health services to cope. This, clearly, is also a prolonging the situation strategy.

Meeting on Tuesday to discuss moving Euro 2021. Olympics looking like they will be cancelled.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Mainly because it is currently expected for the worst to be over until June or July.

 

[Breezy1985]

Madness init?

Look at Cheltenham, shopping centres.

Why cancel a EPL game, yet on the same day allow a Champions League game, it's madness.

Cheltenham going ahead is a joke. As for the EPL game it's because Arsenal players were in contact with a positive case.

The UK Times are reporting that all EPL will be behind closed doors now and a pub ban on games with an official announcement to be made tonight or tomorrow

 

[Kaptain Kool]

There will be racing in less affected areas, like the tropics. Tour of Thailand is still scheduled to race early in April. Fairly good live coverage, too. Southern hemisphere races are still going on (at least for now) - GP Patagonia and Vuelta a Chiloe the weekend/next week.

If the big teams don't want to waste a full year, they could work with the UCI and regional authorities to develop some sort of limited, alternative calendar. There would be logistical items to resolve but it's probably better then just waiting thing out. The situation in Europe will get worse until probably May. Then you have to hope that: 1) Events can still occur in summer; and 2) Spread of the virus can be continued enough during the Southern hemisphere winter so that the European autumn through 2021 spring won't see a return of similar problems.

 

[Joelsim]

Cheltenham going ahead is a joke. As for the EPL game it's because Arsenal players were in contact with a positive case.

The UK Times are reporting that all EPL will be behind closed doors now and a pub ban on games with an official announcement to be made tonight or tomorrow

They’re also reporting that the next phase will be the cancellation of all sports fixtures, but we’re not there yet.

It’s not about people passing it on to each other at said events, it’s about the public resources that need to be used at the sports events, that would be better utilised elsewhere.

 

[Koronin]

Catalonia is officially postponed.

 

[CyclistAbi]

What is happening now is most of us, on an individual level, already know, we will likely get ill, by coronavirus, at some point in the future. And most of us will get better and will be just fine after. But as there are groups of people, more subjected to severe illness, that can result in death, and as hospitals don't have enough capacity, to take on huge number of people, it i guess comes down to solidarity. Most of us is prepared to let go of the luxury habits we have for now.

Therefore wondering if there will be any cycling races in the near future or not. All this is rather pointless at this time. There won't be any and it wouldn't do much good if there would be some.

 

[ice&fire]

Why are people on here talking about not seeing racing until May? There’s little chance of any racing this year, if there is it will be right at the end. There’s no way this will all be cleared up by May. The clue is is the words ‘moving to the delay phase’, whereby governments try to slow down the numbers catching it to allow health services to cope. This, clearly, is also a prolonging the situation strategy.

Meeting on Tuesday to discuss moving Euro 2021. Olympics looking like they will be cancelled.

I've read on experts estimating the problem to be over in 4 or 5 months at worst. And that includes a duration of twice the virus incubation period after the last known patient is declared free of infection. I'd guess the tightest restrictions on everyday's activities would be lifted earlier than that as the total number of infected people goes clearly down. Perhaps May is too early, but I can see the TdF going on with no warmup races before.

 

[Roku]

Cycling, football, basketball... it is just sport. Honestly, sport is meaningless. There is a serious virus floating around, collapsing the health systems of Italy, Spain, and european countries.

This is serious guys. Cancelling De Ronde, Roubaix, Champions League or whatever sport competition is cancelled is good if it helps avoiding hundreds or thousand of infections.

Probably most of us will be safe if we get Corona, but think about our parents and loved ones who have conditions that could be potentially mortal combined with coronavirus. Even people with smaller diseases potentially will not get the treatment they need because hospitals cannot take more patients. In some places of Italy hospitals are deciding who to save because they cannot treat everyone.

We all need to take precautions, to be sensitive and think about all the lives that will be saved if we try to slow down the infection.