Giro d’Italia officially postponed

The 2020 Giro d’Italia is now officially postponed.

RCS Sport confirmed Friday the 2020 Giro will be moved from its initially-scheduled May dates. The race organizers are hoping to announce a new window after an Italian lockdown concludes April 3.

The coronavirus continues to chew through the international racing calendar. A day after Belgian one-days and the Volta a Catalunya were scrapped, organizers of the season’s first grand tour buckled to the inevitable.

The announcement came just hours after Hungarian officials confirmed they would not host the planned “big start” in Budapest, set to feature three stages across Hungary.

Here is the complete statement from RCS Sport released Friday:

“In response to the spread of the coronavirus the Hungarian government has declared a state of emergency. This prohibits the organization of mass events and makes it impossible to organize international events.

“As a consequence, the Organising Committee of the Giro d’Italia’s Hungarian stages declared that the Giro’s start could not be held in Hungary at the originally scheduled time. All parties have agreed that they are determined to work together to enable the Giro d’Italia to depart from Hungary at a later time.

“RCS Sport, having taken note of the international and national situation, announces that the date of the 2020 Giro d’Italia is thereby postponed.

“The new date will be announced no earlier than 3 April when the provisions of the D.P.C.M. (Decreto del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri della Repubblica Italiana – Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic) of 4 March 2020 will end, and only after having consulted with the appropriate representatives of the Italian Government, local and territorial authorities and Italian and international sports institutions.”