With race cancellations due to the coronavirus continuing unabated, Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madio agrees that postponing or canceling sporting events is the only way forward in the current climate, but says that uncertainty about when races will resume is creating a difficult situation in professional However, the uncertainty of when races will resume creates a difficult situation in the professional cycling world.

As part of an interview posted on his team's website, Madio explained that many of his Groupama-FDJ riders intentionally followed a light racing program in January and February in order to get a head start on the big events in March.

"It was a choice made based on sporting criteria, and we thought it would make us more competitive, but in the end we stopped. Except for a few riders who raced for eight to ten days, others raced for three or four days, and in William Bonnet's case, zero days."

"Nonetheless, we were starting to get pretty good, just like David Gaudoux (4th overall in the UAE Tour) and Arnaud Demaret (3rd on stage 2) did in the UAE Tour," Madio continued, "and eventually got better for Paris-Nice. When the UAE Tour was suspended with two stages to go, it was announced that two riders in the team had tested positive for coronavirus, and the riders were placed in a hotel in Abu Dhabi for an extended stay.

In Paris-Nice, which ended on Saturday, the final stage on Sunday was cancelled, with the team's Thibaut Pinot finishing fifth overall and Rudy Molard seventh.

"The top group was at its best," said Pinot. At least it confirms that we made the right choices in our season preparation."

But things are different now, and the situation is changing every day. The sport's two major one-day races, the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, are very unlikely to be held in early April, the Giro d'Italia in May has been postponed, and many other races, including Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-San Remo, and Ghent-Wevelgem Spring races were cancelled or postponed.

"Sports authorities will line up behind what international governments say," says Madio. "I don't want to call it a second 'winter break.' For now, we just have to be realistic."

"The next 15 days will be decisive for the future. But the most important thing today is the spread of the virus: ...... At this point, there is no point in planning. We are likely to be disappointed, and we don't want to give false hope [We have had strange experiences in the last two weeks. Therefore, I'll leave two weeks open to assess the overall situation. From there, we will have an idea of how things might develop."

Madio said that he would have to provide "emotional support" to the team's riders during the upcoming race-free period.

"We make sure that the riders can continue to train on a daily basis when they are not allowed to go outside, like in Italy and Spain.

"Actually, what worries me the most is the uncertainty it brings," Madiotto said. 'If you know it's going to be a two- or three-week vacation, it's easy to deal with. The concern here is that we don't know how long it will last."

"If you want to be optimistic, you can tell yourself that everything will resume in three weeks, but in reality it could take much longer. 'It is inevitable that the season will resume,' he said. But when. It is impossible to know at this point."

"In any case, cycling often reflects society. This time will be no different. We too will resume when society returns to normalcy."

"And the Tour de France is no exception," says Madio. This year, the start date has been moved up to June 27 because of the Olympics, and as a result, the race could be in danger of being postponed or cancelled.

"People are very smart to think they know what is going to happen. 'For now, I'm trying to be realistic. Let's get things done the right way. Let's go into standby mode and do what is required of us for at least the next two weeks."