Too early to decide if Tour de France can go ahead - France Sports Ministry

[March 26, 2020]    PARIS (Reuters) - It is too soon to decide whether the Tour de France can go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic, a French Sports Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday.

Team INEOS rider Egan Bernal of Colombia, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, in action in front of the Arc de Triomphe. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

Following the postponement of the Euro 2020 soccer Championship and the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Tour de France - due to take place in June and July - is one of the last major global sporting events that has not yet been cancelled.

"The Tour is a sports monument. It is too soon to decide. There is a time for everything. For now, we have a more urgent battle to fight. Let us focus on this mountain in front of us and then consider what's next," French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu wrote on Twitter.

Late on Wednesday, local radio station France Bleu quoted her as saying that France may consider organising the Tour without spectators in order to minimise the risk of infection.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Alison Williams and Hugh Lawson)

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