PGA SANZAAR Considers Championship Without Fans
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RUGBY | Page 2 MOTORSPORT | Page 4 Austria to McLaren boss allow social- says virus is final distancing wake-up call for friendly sports unhealthy F1 Thursday, April 16, 2020 CRICKET Sha’ban 23, 1441 AH BCCI looking for GULF TIMES new Indian Premier League window SPORT Page 3 CYCLING FOCUS Staging Light at the end of the Tour in 2020 vital tunnel as Tour de for the sport, says race France rescheduled director Cycling’s flagship event pushed back from June 27, will run from August 29-September 20 Reuters AFP for deprived sports addicts the world Paris, France Paris, France over, with millions of armchair fans able to tune in daily, including those still working from home. taging the Tour de France this year despite the he Tour de France will be The new date gives the ASO time novel coronavirus pandemic was vital for road raced from August 29 to to stage the warm-up Criterium du cycling, the race’s director Christian Prud- September 20, organis- Dauphine — held annually ahead of Shomme said yesterday. Ters announced yesterday, the Tour but postponed this year The sport’s governing International Cycling Union postponing cycling’s flagship event as the spring cycling season was (UCI) announced that the Tour, initially due to be held originally slated to start on June 27 swept aside by the coronavirus. from June 27-July 19, would be staged from August due to the coronavirus lockdown. Cycling’s governing body the 29-September 20 amid measures to contain the coro- The new dates follow French UCI has said that May’s postponed navirus outbreak. President Emmanuel Macron’s Giro d’Italia would be raced after “We started to talk about a postponement to the lo- extension of a ban on large public the Tour de France, and the Vuelta cal politicians as soon as March 18 — a day after France gatherings until mid-July. a espana after that, with dates to be was put in lockdown — and all of them were on board,” The news comes as a relief to announced in May. Prudhomme told Reuters in an interview. professional cycling teams and fans “Everyone in the world of cycling supported the idea, with four-times Tour winner Chris HEALTH COMES FIRST even those who usually don’t like us. Some teams said Froome welcoming “light at the With the Giro and the Tokyo Olym- they would have to close down without the Tour in end of the tunnel” for those suffer- pic road race in late July on Mount 2020. ing under Covid-19 lockdown. Fuji both postponed, the Tour de “The Tour is the base The decision moves the three- France will be more competitive of the revised calendar.” week race out of its traditional slot in than ever as the whole spectrum of Sponsors usually in- the summer holidays where roadside elite cyclists focus on the one race. vest in cycling teams for crowds of around 12mn would be ex- “The Tour de France is 3,000km the broad TV exposure pected to gather in festive spirit. of smiles,” race director Christian and the Tour de France is It will now finish on the same Prudhomme has repeated many one of the world’s most day the postponed French Open In this July 28, 2019, picture, Team INEOS rider Egan Bernal (right) of Colombia rides in the overall leader’s yellow times in the past in reference to the watched events, after the championships starts, September jersey in the final stage of the Tour de France in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. (Reuters) Tour and its fans. Summer Olympics and 20, giving a worrying indication of But he has also stressed that the soccer World Cup. a potential autumn fixture pile-up starting in Nice and finishing in this period has been tough on all of caravan can be more easily put up health comes first as France battles With no elite racing as more sports seek to reschedule Paris. us, and bike racing is not important in hotels outside August. the coronavirus crisis. before August, cycling suspended events. “The Tour is still the Tour. All the in the greater scheme of things. With the Tokyo Games and foot- France has been under lockdown teams and sponsors have Tour director Christian Prud- challenges we set remain intact,” he “But let’s take hope in that we ball’s Euro 2020 both delayed by since March 17 in an attempt to been dramatically hit fi- homme told AFP the new start was said of the hotly anticipated climb- may return to some sort of normal- a year, the Tour is the last major slow the spread of the virus which nancially by the corona- based on a double rationale. laden route that rarely strays far ity in the near future.” event remaining on the summer has claimed the lives of over 15,700 virus, which has infected “We wanted to be as far away from the mountains. The new date solves a series of sports calendar. people in the country. over two mn people from the pandemic as possible,” Britain’s Froome said the news problems after organisers faced up to Elite cycling will breathe a huge The epic race will now embark worldwide and brought he said. “The president put a July came as a boost for all lovers of the the reality that the race could never sigh of relief as the Tour accounts from Nice on the Mediterranean the world of sport to a 14 date on public gatherings, but sport. take place on the original dates. for most of its earnings. coast on August 29 and culminate standstill. it seemed more reasonable to us “It’s the news we have all been Rescheduling means top cycling “The Tour represents around 60 over three weeks later on Paris’s The Tour route will to allow the riders time to get into waiting for, some light at the end of teams will survive economically, percent of earnings in a season,” celebrated Champs Elysees on Sep- remain 99% unchanged peak condition.” the tunnel,” said the Ineos rider. social distancing will be easier French team AG2R boss Vincent tember 20, where the traditional with a Grand Depart While the dates have changed “I’m seeing a lot of negativity and without massive crowds, and the Lavenu said last week. yellow jersey is awarded to the win- from Nice and the tra- the original route remains intact, despondency on my timeline, I know 4,500 strong Tour de France rolling The Tour will provide a daily fix ner beneath the Arc de Triomphe. ditional final parade on Paris’s Champs-Elysees. “The only thing we might have to change sometimes is when we go through bigger cities,” said Prudhomme, who on Tuesday called PHOTO OF THE DAY 49 local politicians to inform them that the Tour dates Blast from the past had been changed. With sporting events around GIRO, VUELTA TO FOLLOW the world grinding to a halt, The 2020 summer holidays are due to end on Sept. 1 Gulf Times Sport dived down in France, where public events have been banned until the vault for some fantastic, mid-July although French President Emmanuel Macron sometimes offbeat stories said the confinement would be progressively lifted from that can be told through May 11. pictures. Asked about potential safety measures due to the coronavirus outbreak, Prudhomme said the Tour or- After Japan’s Tetsuta ganisers would adapt. Nagashima stormed to victory “We will follow recommendations, just like we did for in the Moto2 class at the Losail Paris-Nice in March. At the start, gatherings of more International Circuit in Qatar than 5,000 were banned and after a couple of days we on March 8, 2020, he said, “I had to adapt because the maximum was 1,000,” he said. am in a dream.” Ten years after Prudhomme added that earlier dates for the Tour in late Shoya Tomizawa won the August had been considered before being ruled out. track’s first Moto2 race in 2010, “Riders need a couple of months to get ready for an Nagashima also became only event like the Tour. Four, five or six weeks to train on the second non-European rider roads and then we should have a few stage races before to lead the Moto2 standings the Tour,” he said. since his compatriot did so a It means the Criterium du Dauphine, a traditional decade ago. (Red Bull Content warm-up race for the Tour, is expected to be held some- Pool) time in August, Prudhomme said, even if it could be shorter, “maybe five or six days instead of eight”. “Having the Tour in September is also a better month for the hotel industry,” he added. Hotels are traditionally packed in August and at least 4,500 people are usually working on the Tour de France, which will be followed by the world championships, Italy’s Giro and Spain’s Vuelta, the UCI said in a state- ment. The governing body added it was also working on new dates for the top one-day races — Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne- Liege and the Tour of Lombardy. Gulf Times 2 Thursday, April 16, 2020 SPORT TOP OF THE LINE Austria to allow tennis, golf and other social-distancing-friendly sports Reuters from there if possible. Outdoor facilities that will no 14,000 confirmed cases. quirements and matches being Vienna, Austria Unlike in some other coun- longer be off-limits to the public There was frustration in Vi- played in empty stadiums.