After a meeting between local authorities in Siena and race organizer RCS Sport on Thursday morning, the Strade Bianche men's and women's races were canceled.

RCS Sport informed the teams that Saturday's race would not take place due to a decree issued by the Italian government on Wednesday evening.

"We are sad to announce that the Strade Bianche will not be contested because last night's decree has raised the possibility of the race not starting after the last meeting with the authorities," RCS Sport said in a letter sent to the teams and obtained by Cycling News.

"Due to the emergency caused by the coronavirus, the Italian authorities have blocked the competition. Please inform all staff and athletes."

In a statement issued after a meeting with the mayor of Siena in the province of Siena, RCS Sport accepted that "there are no conditions that guarantee the provisions of the DPCM (Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic)."

The organizers have therefore "agreed with the authorities concerned to cancel the two bicycle races scheduled for Saturday, March 7: the Strade Bianche and the Strade Bianche Women's Elite."

The organizers also announced that the race would be held on Saturday, March 7.

No decision has yet been made on the Tirreno-Adriatico, which is scheduled to start on the Tuscan coast on Wednesday and cross central Italy, and the Milan-San Remo, scheduled for Saturday, March 21.

"Until 7 p.m. yesterday, we were convinced we could do it. Then the decree arrived and the RCS explained the sanitary problems, so we had to make this decision, even if everyone wanted the race to continue," Siena Major Luigi de Mossi told local media.

"We are convinced that the event was only postponed and not cancelled altogether.

RCS Sport has already suggested that the March race could be held in June or September after the Giro d'Italia, and has reportedly requested a new date for Strade Bianche from the UCI.

Some teams had already announced that they would not race in Italy, while others had arrived in Tuscany to prepare on dirt roads before Saturday's race. Now all the peloton must decide whether to race Paris-Nice and which riders will compete in the French stage race.