Lappartient: Every race is at risk, even the Tour de France

New UCI president David Lappartient with 2014 Worlds winner Michał Kwiatkowski on the start line
UCI president David Lappartient with Michał Kwiatkowski at the 2014 Worlds (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

UCI President David Lappartient will be in Tuscany on Saturday for the return of WorldTour racing at Strade Bianche but he has warned that the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic means that every race risks being cancelled due to possible spikes in COVID-19 cases and changes in national regulations of countries that host races.

The number of COVID-19 cases has grown in Spain, Belgium and France in recent days, leading to new local restrictions and even quarantine orders in some countries. However, racing is continuing at the Vuelta a Burgos in Spain, while Egan Bernal and Chris Froome will start the four-day La Route d'Occitanie stage race in southwest France on Saturday and Strade Bianche marks the return of the men's and women's WorldTour.

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.