The Tour de Yorkshire is the latest race to fall victim to the Covid 19 coronavirus, and organizers Welcome to Yorkshire and ASO announced today a joint decision to postpone both the men's and women's races in an effort to stem the spread of the potentially deadly disease.

The 2.pro men's race, scheduled for April 30-May 3, includes former winners including Greg Van Avermaat. The women's race was scheduled for May 1 and 2.

In a statement released Tuesday, organizers said the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus made it impossible to continue the event as planned.

"While this is one of the most supported races on the cycling calendar, the safety of everyone involved, from riders to spectators, must be given top priority," organizers said. After consultation with stakeholders and sponsors, Welcome to Yorkshire held in-depth and constructive discussions with ASO and British Cycling (both TDY race partners), and all parties agreed that this was the right and responsible thing to do."

In reaching this decision, the organizers considered that a large event such as the Tour de Yorkshire places additional burdens on emergency services and local authorities.

"The race is a great spectacle, but we all know that the health and well-being of the entire region and everyone in the country is frankly more important than sporting events," said Peter Box, chairman of Welcome to Yorkshire.

"Our attention now turns to supporting tourism throughout the region in this unprecedented crisis, where many tourism operators are still recovering from the flooding.

Organizers said they are working with the UCI to find alternative dates on the international cycling calendar for the races to take place; ASO also officially postponed the Monument Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Tuesday.

Yorkshire hosted the UCI Road World Championships in 2019.

The Tour de Yorkshire began as a UCI 2.1 race won by Team Sky's Lars Petter Nordhaug in 2015. Other past winners include Van Avermaat in 2018, Chris Lawless last year, Serge Pauwels in 2017, and Thomas Voeckler in 2016. The women's race, won last year by Marianne Vos, began in 2016 and has also included Kirsten Wilde, Lizzie Deignan, and Megan Garnier among its champions.