The Hague (AFP)
The Amstel Gold Race, scheduled for October 10, has been canceled due to new measures put in place in the Netherlands against the novel coronavirus, organizers of the Dutch cycling classic announced on Wednesday.
"The Amstel Gold Race and the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition are canceled," said the organizers in a statement, in which they specified that the holding of these races was "not possible under the recently announced national measures, according to which sports competitions must be without an audience ".
Initially scheduled for April 19, the race had already been postponed for the first time due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
"The last few months have been very intense. The pandemic makes the organization of the Amstel Gold Race very complex," said race director Leo van Vliet in the press release.
"In recent weeks it has become increasingly clear that a route through South Limburg, with passages in ten municipalities, is impractical," he continues.
A shortened route had been drawn and was to be made public last Monday, but the new measures announced the same evening by the Dutch government meant that "the plans had to be revised again", said the organizers.
By banning the presence of the public during sports competitions, the government has made their task "almost impossible", explains Leo van Vliet.
"The mayors of the municipalities which were to be crossed by the runners established the impossibility of guaranteeing the absence of the public. Of course, we cannot help but respect this advice, even if we regret it", he said added.
This announcement comes a few hours after the cancellation for the same reason of the passages through the Netherlands of the BinckBankTour, a cycling race run since Tuesday and which was to pass between this country and Belgium until Saturday.
© 2020 AFP