Effects of coronavirus on professional races

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Aug 19, 2011
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The Olympics out of calendar means broader manoeuvering space for other events and athletes. There's an additional fortnight to play with.
Right and sensible decision.

Vuelta starts on Friday Aug 14
they could even let the TDF end on Sunday Aug 9
 
Mar 16, 2014
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Now I'm really worried...


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May 5, 2010
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Why is that more worrying that anything else? They already postponed the Olympics, which technically had a few more months for everything to get back to "normal".
 
Mar 13, 2015
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I suspect the French Government will move 'heaven and earth' to run the TDF, as being the biggest annual sporting event, means so much publicity for France.
It could also mean so much bad publicity for France if it were to run and there were problems.
 
Jun 20, 2015
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It could also mean so much bad publicity for France if it were to run and there were problems.

This is the chance the French Government will take if feasible and the teams need a TDF for them to survive in 2021 - There has periodically been issues in the TDF such as Festina Affair etc,etc,etc - Gotta say you are a negative person.
 
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Mar 13, 2015
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This is the chance the French Government will take if feasible and the teams need a TDF for them to survive in 2021 - There has periodically been issues in the TDF such as Festina Affair etc,etc,etc - Gotta say you are a negative person.
To be fair Yaco, a few dopers is somewhat different to being the potential cause of thousands of deaths. Do you honestly think Macron will allow anything unless it’s deemed to be completely safe?
 
Jun 20, 2015
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To be fair Yaco, a few dopers is somewhat different to being the potential cause of thousands of deaths. Do you honestly think Macron will allow anything unless it’s deemed to be completely safe?

And my post clearly states if feasible - Doesn't change my opinion that you sprout negativity.
 
Jun 20, 2015
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Well, PHE (Public Health England) are expecting the crisis to be still going on at this time next year.

I doubt the crisis at the same level will be still be going in 12 months - At some stage in the future you have to get back to normality - Don't forget the antibody test which will be available in the next week will allow authorities to plan for the future.
 
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Mar 13, 2015
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I doubt the crisis at the same level will be still be going in 12 months - At some stage in the future you have to get back to normality - Don't forget the antibody test which will be available in the next week will allow authorities to plan for the future.
Yes, let’s hope so.
 
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Feb 1, 2011
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And my post clearly states if feasible - Doesn't change my opinion that you sprout negativity.

What does feasable mean?

The Tour de France can survive skipping a year even if every single Pro team goes bust. The riders are still there and will race whenever they get back.

Sports, as important as they are to many of us, are not essential to life. Schools are, jobs are and other things that will open up first, because they just matter more objectively. Tourism will be *** this year anyway; even if people could travel again in mid/late summer, they won't have any money or time to do so, the world economy is in the trash worse than any time before in my life (approaching 40). Nobody will take risks restarting cycling or even football before more essential services.
 
Jul 1, 2015
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Why is that more worrying that anything else? They already postponed the Olympics, which technically had a few more months for everything to get back to "normal".
Not really. There were some olympic sports with qualifying competitions scheduled in May and June.
The French Open of Tennis was also postponed because of the qualifying round starting in mid May.
Next major bike race after the Giro not yet postponed/cancelled is still Dauphiné, due to start on the 31st of May. That will be the canary in the coal mine for the Tour.
 
Jun 20, 2015
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What does feasable mean?

The Tour de France can survive skipping a year even if every single Pro team goes bust. The riders are still there and will race whenever they get back.

Sports, as important as they are to many of us, are not essential to life. Schools are, jobs are and other things that will open up first, because they just matter more objectively. Tourism will be *** this year anyway; even if people could travel again in mid/late summer, they won't have any money or time to do so, the world economy is in the trash worse than any time before in my life (approaching 40). Nobody will take risks restarting cycling or even football before more essential services.

Feasible mean possible - Whether you like it or not, the TDF is the biggest annual sporting event which is heavily supported by the French Government - They will do their best to have an edition in 2020.
 
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Feb 1, 2011
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Feasible mean possible - Whether you like it or not, the TDF is the biggest annual sporting event which is heavily supported by the French Government - They will do their best to have an edition in 2020.

Yes, i know the word, lol, i do speak english. I meant in the context of this crisis, although it was more a rethorical question, since nobody can really predict how things are going. Theoretically, what would the corona situation have to look like for the Tour to be possible? Let's say in mid may we are where Wuhan is today, could they organise the Tour? I doubt it, and that's probably best-case.
 
Jun 20, 2015
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Yes, i know the word, lol, i do speak english. I meant in the context of this crisis, although it was more a rethorical question, since nobody can really predict how things are going. Theoretically, what would the corona situation have to look like for the Tour to be possible? Let's say in mid may we are where Wuhan is today, could they organise the Tour? I doubt it, and that's probably best-case.

I have no expectations that the TDF will be held on it's original date - I am thinking a date in Mid to Late August because even if you reach a Wuhan situation in Mid May, there will still be small spot-fires for months to come - But ultimately all countries at some stage need to get the workforce ticking over.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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Should we remember that ASO owns a 49% stake in Unipublic? I have half a mind that if any Grand Tour is going to run this year it will be the Tour. The Tour is the oldest and the biggest, and France has not been quite as badly affected so far as Italy and Spain have, although obviously that's very much a relative measure seeing as Italy and Spain have been two of the worst-hit areas of all. If the Tour can't run in its original slot, it will run in the Vuelta's and Unipublic and their host towns will be recompensed for the privilege. If it can't run in the Vuelta's slot, then realistically no Grand Tour will run this year. The Giro is pretty much certainly out - and even if it does run in like, October, it will be a shortened version as the Hungarian stages have been outright cancelled so it will be a sort of facsimile GT (while officially a GT, it will kind of feel a bit like Ciolek's Sanremo in hindsight) while Spain has the most time to recover before the race but it is in a bad way right now and has its relationship with the Tour - because you know full well if ASO can only run one of the Tour and the Vuelta, the one that's running is going to be the Tour.
 
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May 25, 2018
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To be fair Yaco, a few dopers is somewhat different to being the potential cause of thousands of deaths. Do you honestly think Macron will allow anything unless it’s deemed to be completely safe?
Also its impossible if all the medics and doctors are buzy. Another big problem for cycling is the international nature of the teams who will need to travel across borders unlike a national football league for instance
 
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