Paris (AFP)

Paris-Roubaix, the "queen of the classics", was postponed from April 11 to October 3 due to the health situation, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Thursday.

Last year, the event had already been postponed to the fall and finally canceled, for the same reason.

Both the men's race created in 1896 and the women's version which was to take place for the first time.

Since the first edition at the end of the 19th century, only the two world wars got the better of Paris-Roubaix, between 1915 and 1918 then between 1940 and 1942 before covid-19 did its work.

The new dates, October 2 for the ladies' race and October 3 for the men's race, were unanimously ratified by the Professional Cycling Council (CCP), convened on Thursday by UCI President David Lappartient.

The hypothesis of a postponement or a cancellation had taken shape at the beginning of last week when the prefect of Hauts-de-France Michel Lalande had publicly mentioned it.

In the continuity of the turn of the screw decided on Wednesday by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, in view of the health situation, the prefect decided Thursday, ten days before the appointment which was to be given in Compiègne (Oise), a traditional place departure.

The "queen of the classics", whose last edition was won in April 2019 by the Belgian Philippe Gilbert, will therefore take place in the calendar one week after the world championship scheduled for Louvain (Belgium).

© 2021 AFP