France’s Tour de France is the latest large-scale sporting event to be postponed due to coronavirus concerns.
The tour was originally scheduled to take place from June 27 to July 19, however, French President Emmanuel Macron said that restrictions will remain in place throughout mid-July, and therefore, the tour will need to be pushed back. Macron said this includes “major festivals with a large audience.”
However, rather than cancelling this year’s event, the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) said that it would focus on a postponement.
“The unpredictable nature of the global crisis that we are all caught up in means that we will have to be patient until there’s an official announcement of ASO about the 2020 race, bearing in mind that the current focus is on a postponement until later in the summer rather than a cancellation,” Editions Philippe Amaury told SportsBusiness.
At this time, it’s speculated that the Tour will not be held until late August or early September, as the International Cycling Union extended the suspension of all competitions through June 1.
The Tour de France isn’t alone; The Giro in Budapest was postponed last month, and the future of Vuleta in the Dutch city of Utrecht is unconfirmed at this time.
Major sporting events across the world, including the 2020 Masters, BNP Paribas Open, and Kentucky Derby, have been postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. See our full list of events that have been postponed to the fall here.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
