La Gazzetta dello Sport describes the upcoming Italian races as hanging by a "thread of hope" as more and more teams decide not to participate in the March races, but RCS Sport is still hopeful that the men's and women's Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-. Sanremo, and Tour of Sicily, and hopes to host the Tour of Sicily.

Organizers are meeting with local authorities in Siena this morning and a statement on the viability of the races will be issued this afternoon.

On Wednesday evening, the Italian government issued a drastic decree, ordering the closure of schools and universities and the suspension of all public and sporting events. However, strict guidelines must be followed to limit the risk of spreading the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Soccer matches will be held without public spectators in the stadium, and organizers of the Ski World Cup finals in Cortina hope to keep the event alive. However, the nature of road racing makes it very difficult to limit contact between athletes, the public, and race staff.

Mauro Veni, head of RCS Sport's cycling department, admitted that it would be difficult to hold the race under the provisions of the decree, but RCS Sport has refused to throw in the towel. A meeting with local authorities will take place on Thursday afternoon and a final decision could be made.

The 7,000-participant Strade Bianche Gran Fondo scheduled for Sunday has been canceled and will be held later in the year, but RCS Sport is hoping that permission will be granted to hold the Strade Bianche race.

"For the bike races Strade Bianche (March 7), Strade Bianche Women's Elite (March 7), Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17), Milan-San Remo (March 21), and Il Giro di Sicilia (April 1-4), RCS Sport will provide updates and details in the coming days, starting with a meeting with the Province of Siena tomorrow (Thursday) morning, followed by meetings with the relevant authorities," RCS Sport said in a statement Wednesday evening.

RCS Sport, if it wants to hold the Strade Bianche on Saturday, faces a race against time and in the midst of a serious health crisis with 2,703 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 107 people dead, and 295 in intensive care in hospitals, must respect the government decree and ensure the public, athletes In the midst of a serious health crisis, we must find a way to organize and televise the race while respecting government decrees and protecting the health of the public, athletes, and race staff.

More than 80% of cases have occurred in northern Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna, 200 km from Siena, but more isolated cases are being discovered all over Italy every minute, putting the health services and local authorities under great pressure.

"La Gazzetta dello Sport" newspaper suggested that Piazza del Campo in central Siena, the finishing venue of the Strade Bianche, may be off limits, and Italy from Camaiore in Tuscany to San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic coast It has suggested that similar measures may be taken for each of the seven Tirreno-Adriatico stages that traverse the central region.

However, the decree clearly states that if a sporting event is allowed to take place, the organizers "are obliged to implement the necessary controls to limit the risk of spread of Covid 29 among athletes, staff management and all support staff participating."

Since the men's and women's Strade Bianche are part of their respective world tours, the best teams in the sport will participate. However, a growing number of teams have announced that they will suspend most of their March race programs, including Team Ineos, Astana, Mitchelton Scott, Jumbo Visma, and EF Pro Cycling.

With Groupama-FDJ riders quarantined in the UAE after being confirmed by local authorities to be infected with coronavirus, the French team has confirmed that no riders and staff will be racing in Italy for the next two weeks. Parkhotel Valkenburg and CCC-Liv have withdrawn from the women's race.

Fourteen doctors from 11 major professional cycling teams have sent a letter to race organizers ASO and RCS Sport, as well as the UCI, requesting the cancellation of upcoming races, including Paris-Nice, which opens Sunday, due to the coronavirus outbreak The UCI has criticized the corona virus, criticizing the ASO and RCS for their lack of "robust planning" in response to concerns about the spread of the virus.

It is unclear whether RCS Sport will appoint a small professional or continental team to replace the team that is withdrawing.

UCI held a meeting and conference call with key stakeholders in the sport on Wednesday. It was decided not to cancel any event, stating that the final decision "will be made by the health authorities of the regions involved, depending on the local situation and the evolution of the various risk factors identified."

The UCI stated that each race organizer "must take certain measures with the aim of maximizing the risk of further spread of the coronavirus."

These include, among other things, increasing the distance between spectators and athletes in the start-finish zone and respecting strict medical protocols, which vary from country to country but include handling suspected cases of coronavirus and diagnostic testing. The number of teams staying at each hotel must also be limited, and sanitary measures must be observed. 10]

The UCI will provide a financial measures will be decided on a case-by-case basis to ensure that no team is penalized, either financially or in evaluating the status of a UCI World Team or UCI ProTeam