Cycling news - Romain Bardet says it will be a 'great sign' if Tour de France goes ahead

The Giro d’Italia has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and it seems likely that the Tour – scheduled to start on June 27 – will be affected too.

France's sports minister Roxana Maracineanu has said it is of “paramount importance” that the three-week race goes ahead in some form.

And Bardet, who was planning to ride the Giro and then target the Olympics instead of the Tour, told L’Equipe: “It seems to me that it might be less utopian, if the pandemic has been controlled by then in France, to organise the Tour de France.

“We're all going through difficult times, but it would be a great sign if the Tour could be held in July. It would mean that the health situation had improved, and that we were on the right track… But it's probably too early to say whether that's possible.”

French rider Bardet also says it was “reasonable and logical” to postpone the Olympics and he is now “thinking beyond sport” as the coronavirus affects all aspects of life.

"I didn't know how anyone was going to be able to take part in the Olympics while there was still so much uncertainty and the world was in the state it's in," he added.

"It would be selfish of me to only be concerned by the sporting aspect of everything that's happening.

“Instead, I'm trying to look at things as a citizen of the world, as this situation is so catastrophic. It's difficult to look at the world through the eyes of a sportsman anymore.

“I've lost the thread of my season a little, especially as we don't know when we're going to race again. Everyone's thinking beyond sport now."