2020 Tour of Flanders postponed
New measures imposed by the Belgian federal government prevent race organizers from hosting the Tour of Flanders on April 5.
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Barely hours after ASO announced they had no choice but to postpone Paris-Roubaix, Flèche-Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Flanders followed suit. The move of course comes as no surprise, as public gatherings and event were prohibited by Belgian authorities until April 3rd, just two days before Flanders. But today, the government left no question by extending the ban through race day on April 5.
“Flanders Classics is forced to cancel the Tour of Flanders on the planned date,” Flanders Classics stated today. “Tonight, the federal government has imposed a number of additional measures in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. In addition, the deadline for the measures has been extended to April 5th. This means that Flanders Classics is no longer in the possibility to organize the Tour of Flanders on the planned date.”
Tomas Van Den Spiegel, CEO of Flanders Classics: “Indeed, the new measures imposed by the federal government prevent us from organising the Tour of Flanders on April 5. There are, of course, more important issues than bike racing right now. We hope that we will all succeed in creating a climate in which we can, in the short term, resume our normal daily lives.”
Much like ASO, the parent company of the Tour de France, Flanders Classics insists that they are working together with the UCI and representatives of the teams and riders in an attempt to find a suitable date later in the year.