Tour de France postponed

The Tour de France has finally changed its plans for 2020.

French newspapers are reporting a new start date has been set for August. Both L’Equipe and Le Parisien said organisers ASO are now hoping to stage the race from Aug. 29-Sept. 20.

The Tour was set to start on June 27 in the Riviera city of Nice. But that effectively became impossible on Monday when French President Emmanuel Macron announced that all public events with large crowds have been cancelled until at least mid-July.

“Given that it’s now impossible that the Tour starts at its planned date, we are consulting with the [International Cycling Union] to try and find new dates,” race organisers said.

Juggling the cycling calendar is also tricky because of the various races scheduled throughout the season, including the Giro d’Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.

The Giro, which had been set for May, was called off late last month. The Spanish race, also owned by ASO, is still on the schedule for Aug. 14-Sept. 6.

The last time the Tour was not held was in 1946, with the nation still emerging from World War II. It was also stopped during World War I.

Source: ESPN