Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC President Thomas Bach have agreed to postpone the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games until 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"In light of the current situation and in order to ensure a safe and secure hosting of the Games for all athletes, we have proposed a postponement of approximately one year," Prime Minister Abe said Tuesday after a telephone conversation with President Bach. [President Bach agreed 100% and said they agreed to hold the Olympics by the summer of 2021.

The 2020 Olympics were scheduled to run from July 24 to August 9, with the road race to be held on the opening weekend, but the viability of that date has been questioned in recent weeks as the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated and more countries impose restrictions on travel and public gatherings. More than 390,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed worldwide.

The decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was reported by Japan's national broadcaster NHK on Tuesday and later confirmed by the IOC in a statement.

"Under the current circumstances and on the basis of the information provided today by the WHO, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the 32nd Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo must be rescheduled beyond 2020, but no later than the summer of 2021, in order to protect the health of athletes, Olympic officials, and the international community. We have come to the conclusion that the 32nd Olympic Games in Tokyo must be rescheduled after 2020, but no later than the summer of 2021, in order to protect the health of athletes, Olympic officials, and the international community," the statement said.

"We also agreed to maintain the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

On Monday, Australia and Canada were among the countries that announced they would not send athletes if the Olympics were held this summer; the IOC responded by stating that it would decide within the next four weeks whether to postpone the 2020 Olympics.

IOC commissioner Dick Pound later told USA Today that postponing the Games this summer was inevitable. The Games will not start on July 24, I know that much," Pound said.

While a new date for the Tokyo Olympics has not been finalized, it is clear that the Games will be postponed to 2021 rather than rescheduled for the fall.

The Olympics have never been postponed before, but were cancelled in 1916 during World War I and again in 1940 and 1944 during World War II.

While the postponement of the Olympics will cast further doubt (opens in new tab) on the possibility of holding the Tour de France (opens in new tab) (June 27-July 19), Le Parisien magazine reported on Monday that organizer ASO has said that if by summer the French reported that it is considering the prospect of holding the race without a promotional caravan or starting village if restrictions on public gatherings and regulations on social distances remain in place.

The spread of the coronavirus has suspended all races during the cycling season until the end of April. The Giro d'Italia and the spring classics were postponed, and races such as the Tour de Romandie were cancelled.

After a conference call with race organizers and officials last week, UCI President David Lapartient proposed extending the season until the end of October in order to find room for the Monument and Giro in the fall.

If the cycling season resumes in early summer, the postponement of the Olympics would theoretically free up space on the calendar, allowing the postponed races to be rearranged between the Tour and Vuelta a España, scheduled to start on August 14 in Utrecht.

However, the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics also necessitates a rearrangement of the UCI calendar for 2021. The start of this year's Tour de France was moved a week earlier than usual to accommodate the Tokyo Olympics men's road race, which was scheduled for July 25, and the Tour de Suisse and Criterium du Dauphiné were also moved a week earlier.

The 2021 Tour de France will open in Copenhagen on July 2 and close in Paris on July 25.