Yale BTC Ljubljana, home to Italian road race champion Marta Bastianelli, has canceled its race program through at least April 3 amid concerns and warnings about the Covid 19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The Italian-registered Women's World Team said it made this decision to protect the health of its athletes and their families.

"Team Alé Btc Ljubljana has decided to suspend its sporting activities until at least April 3, considering the serious situation affecting Italy and the entire European country," read a team statement on Thursday.

"An important part of the team (not residing in Italy and therefore not subject to the strict restrictions set by the Italian Council of Ministers) could have participated in the next race scheduled in the Netherlands, but the management staff, in a sense of citizenship and sporting ethics that demands that the health of athletes and their families be protected first The decision was made to suspend athletic activities for the next three weeks.

"While the decision the team has made is an agonizing and difficult one, we recognize that this position is the right one for the health and benefit of all."

Ronde van Drenthe (Netherlands), Dreidage Brugge de Panne and Gent Wevelgem (both Belgium), as well as Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda (both Italy) and Tour of Chongming Island (China) on the Women's World Tour There is no end to the number of race cancellations around Europe, including cancellations and postponements of the Tour of Chongming Island (China).

The Flanders regional government announced today that all sporting events will be banned until March 31 due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. This affects not only the World Tour, but also smaller events such as Nokele Koase and Omloop Van de Westhoek.

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Dutch Health Minister Bruno Bruins announced that all events in the Netherlands with more than 100 participants would be cancelled immediately. This affects not only World Tour events, but also smaller races such as the Drentse Acht van Westerveld (1.2)