Tour de France, the famous race, had been set to begin on June 27, building to up to its incredible conclusion in Paris on July 19.
But now, due to coronavirus, it will take place in the autumn, with the Tour set to kick-off on August 29 and end on September 20.
Race officials had their hand forced, after president Emmanuel Macron announced all large-scale gatherings would continue to be banned in France until mid-July at the earliest because of the killer bug.
In a statement released by Tour de France chiefs, it was announced there would be no changes to the route.
It read: “Following the Presidents address on Monday evening, where large-scale events were banned in France until mid-July as a part of the fight against the spread of COVID-19, the organisers of the Tour de France, in agreement with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), have decided to postpone the Tour de France to Saturday 29th August to Sunday 20th September 2020.
“Initially scheduled to take place from the 27th June to the 19th July, the Tour de France will follow the same route, with no changes, from Nice to Paris.
“Over the last few weeks, there has been constant communication between riders, teams, the organisers as well as other relevant third parties all with the support of the UCI, who are responsible for arranging a new global cycling schedule, in which the Tour de France takes pride of place.”
On the news, British star Chris Froome pleaded with fans for some perspective after “negativity” at the news of the Tour’s delay.
Froome tweeted: “Im seeing a lot of negativity and despondency on my timeline, I know this period has been tough on all of us, and bike racing is not important in the greater scheme of things.
“But let’s take hope in that we may return to some sort of normality in the near future @LeTour”.
The Tour de France statement continued by saying the women’s and mass participation races would also be postponed, but that no new date had yet been set.
It read: “The womens event, La Course by le Tour de France avec FDJ, which was initially scheduled to take place on the 19th July on the Champs Elysées, will also be postponed to a date that is still to be determined, but it will take place during the Tour de France 2020.
“Equally, the 30th edition of the Etape du Tour cyclosportive, originally schedule to take place on the 5th July, will be postponed to a date yet to be determined.”
READ MORE FROM SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/11402343/tour-de-france-delayed-two-months-coronavirus/