Sorgues (France) (AFP)
The organizers of the Paris-Nice cycling race announced Friday the cancellation of the last stage scheduled for Sunday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The classifications will therefore be stopped on Saturday evening of the La Colmiane mountain stage (Alpes-Maritimes), the only arrival at the top of the event.
"It is a logical decision in relation to the expected crowds during the last stage. Even if we had taken measures to distance the public," said Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France and Paris-Nice, stating that the decision had been taken in consultation with the prefectural authorities and sports bodies (teams and UCI).
The 78th edition of the "sun race" started last Sunday in the Yvelines in a tense climate. The following day, its organizers had tightened security measures, in particular by installing airlocks to distance the public from the start and finish areas of the stages.
Friday morning, at the start of the 6th stage in Sorgues (Vaucluse), the Bahrain team announced that it was withdrawing from the event. "To repatriate its staff as soon as possible," said the team, which is led by Belgian Dylan Teuns, previously sixth in the general classification.
Another abandonment, that of the European champion, the Italian Elia Viviani. His Cofidis team clarified that "the sprinter, whose state of health and motivation remain intact, prefers to spare himself and focus on the next big goals of the season, including the Tour de France".
As for the Bora team of the leader of the race, the German Maximilian Schachmann, it announced that a member of its personnel had presented symptoms of colds Thursday evening but that the hypothesis of contamination with Covid-19 was excluded.
The cycling calendar, as in other sports, is upset by the cascade cancellations that have marked these last days, since the cancellation at the end of February of the last two stages of the UAE Tour (Tour of the Emirates). Mainly, the Italian races which form with Paris-Nice the backbone of the March program, the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and especially Milan-Sanremo, the first great classic of the season.
For Paris-Nice, this amputation is a "first". In the past, the event has already had shortened or canceled stages due to the weather. But she had always been able to go to completion.
© 2020 AFP