Belgian classics specialist Sepp Vanmarcke was supposed to be in Tuscany, Italy, for this Saturday's Strade Bianche, but the possibility of a cancellation due to coronavirus concerns, combined with his EF Pro Cycling team's request to the UCI and race organizer Vanmarcke is now training at his home in Belgium to see what happens.

According to Het Nieuwsblad, the 31-year-old is hoping to compete in the Paris-Nice race, which starts Sunday in Plaisir, outside Paris. The French stage race is more likely to happen than the Strade Bianche because the Italian government has ordered all sporting and public events to be canceled for the next month, but a number of team doctors, including EF Pro Cycling, have sent letters to the race organizers, asking that all future races have been cancelled, so Paris-Nice is also in jeopardy.

"It's a bad situation, but we have to wait," Vanmarcke told Het Nieuwsblad on Wednesday. I hope the team will send me to Paris-Nice. Then I won't have to change my [training] structure too much going into the Classic.

"But there are 30 riders (EF Pro Cycling) trying to get one of the eight slots for Paris-Nice.

"Injuries in the past have often forced me to prepare for the most important race week of the year with very little racing.

"I'm not too worried about that," he continued, "because that doesn't help. In the racing world, I can be a little shortsighted, and if there is an increased risk of contracting the virus, then maybe I shouldn't be racing."

"Stopping the virus should be our first concern. That is more important than racing."