According to Reuters, organizers of the Tour de France are working to postpone this year's race rather than cancel it altogether.

The 2020 Tour de France is scheduled to run from June 27 to July 19, but is expected to be postponed for several weeks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 13,000 people in France and is sweeping across Europe and the world ...

According to recent reports in the French newspaper Le Parisien and the Spanish news agency Efe, Tour de France organizer ASO has contacted the mayors of the start and finish lines of the 2020 event to confirm their support for the postponement. If the French medical experts, the French government, and the UCI agree to continue the race, the new Plan B schedule would start in Nice on Saturday, July 25 and finish in Paris on Saturday, August 16.

Race organizer ASO is notorious for restricting communication, and Reuters has seen emails sent to various publishers of the official Tour program.

The publishing arm of L'Equipe, owned by the same family that organizes the Tour de France, wrote in the email that it was "freezing the administrative aspects of our collaboration" ahead of the dates scheduled for early summer, implying an official postponement rather than a complete cancellation.

"The unpredictable nature of the global crisis in which we are all embroiled means that we will have to be patient until there is an official announcement from (Tour organizer) ASO regarding the 2020 race, keeping in mind that the current focus is on a postponement until late summer rather than a cancellation. The ASO has reportedly set a May 15 deadline for deciding whether the Tour will be held on the scheduled dates or postponed.

While other major sporting events have been postponed or cancelled across Europe, the Tour de France is seen as vital to the survival of a number of leading professional teams that rely on the global visibility of the three-week race to justify title sponsorship. The Tour de France is also seen as symbolic of France's recovery from COVID-19 and can capitalize on the lack of other major sporting events.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have already reached the professional cycling community. Athletes from Lotto Soudal, Astana, Bahrain McLaren, Mitchelton Scott, and many other smaller teams have taken pay cuts or wage deferrals, many non-athlete staff have been temporarily laid off, and some sponsors have threatened to shut off water taps.

On the BBC World Service's "Newsday" program, Doug Ryder, director of the NTT Pro Cycling team, stressed the importance of holding the Tour and hoped to hold it in the summer.

"We are hoping that the Tour de France will be held at the end of June. As a team, it is very important that it be held this year," Ryder said.

"I think it's the right decision to move the Olympics back a year because people have been training and preparing for so long, but it's tough.

"So we still have hope that it could be held. So I hope it's the right decision and that we can still race in France in July."

"I hope it's the right decision and that we can still race in France in July.

With racing suspended until at least June 1, many riders will not be able to train outdoors in Italy, France, or Spain, so they will be training indoors or racing virtual e-sports on digital platforms such as Zwift .

Team Ineos will ride with their fans on Sunday afternoon, with 2019 Tour de France winners Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, and Chris Froome competing immediately after. In late April, many of the leading men's World Tour teams will compete in the Digital Switzerland 5, a five-day event held on the Loupy platform.

The athletes hope to train outdoors for at least a month before returning to racing later in the 2020 season and are prepared to race through November in order to host as many of the postponed spring races as possible.