Cycling news - Milan-San Remo race at risk from coronavirus, admits Mauro Vegni

Updated 24/02/2020 at 16:11 GMT

The one-day Milan-San Remo race is at risk of cancellation due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the Lombardy region, admits race director Mauro Vegni.

Race winner France's Julian Alaphilippe (C), runner-up Belgium's Oliver Naesen (L) and third-placed Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski celebrate on the podium after the one-day classic cycling race Milan - San Remo

Image credit: Getty Images

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The race is due to take place in March.

"It's worrying," he said. "Our hope is they can manage to stop or slow down the rate of contagion... for Italian people before we even think about the races."

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He added that he was optimistic that most of the race calendar in Italy would be able to continue as scheduled.

But he explained that Milan-San Remo was a special case because of the health risks in the region, which have already led to the postponement of other sporting events, including football fixtures.

"We hope the situation gets better, otherwise it's difficult to think about a Plan B," he said.

"I think we must fear the national health administration and the Italian Olympic Committee might ask us to cancel Milan to San Remo."

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