Tour de France could be postponed by a month, reports French media

The Tour de France could be postponed by a month, according to French media.

With uncertainty still hanging over the French Grand Tour due to the global coronavirus crisis, reports suggest the race could be delayed by a month.

French newspaper Le Parisien says that the Tour organiser ASO has approached local councils to ask if the race could be postponed by a month.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme has set a deadline of May 15 to decide if the Tour will run on its scheduled dates or if it will be postponed.

ASO has now reportedly contacted authorities in all departure and arrival locations for this year’s Tour to ask if the race could pass through their territories four weeks later than planned.

The 2020 Tour, scheduled to start in Nice on June 27 and finish in Paris on July 19, has been in doubt after the UCI suspended the international cycling calendar.

Dozens of races have been postponed and cancelled as cycling’s governing body does what it can to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

All races is now suspended up until June 1 with the Critérium du Dauphine, run by ASO, also postponed.

While France’s sports minister previously suggested the Tour could be run without the millions of fans lining the roads, Prudhomme has since shot down that idea.

ASO has not yet made a decision on the fate of the Tour de France, but on April 2 Tour director Christian Prudhomme said he is working on rearranging the dates for the three-week race.

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He added that riders must be able to train by the end of April for the Tour to go ahead on its scheduled date of June 27.

The next major races still scheduled to run this year are the Tour de France for the men and the rescheduled Trofeo Alfredo Binda for the women on June 6.