Organizers of the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milano-Sanremo will likely be forced to cancel the races after the Italian government called off all sporting and public events for a month in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19.

RCS Sport had planned to organize the men's and women's versions of the Strade Bianche and next week's Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.

Instead, they will be forced to reschedule them at a later date, if possible. On Wednesday evening, RCS Sport issued a statement clarifying that the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche had been cancelled, that an update on the five upcoming races would be released in the coming days, and that discussions with the relevant authorities would begin on Thursday morning.

The move follows drastic new measures introduced by the Italian government on Wednesday evening. To combat the spread of the coronavirus, the decree includes the cancellation of all public and sporting events that cannot be held in closed stadiums and the closure of schools and universities for a month.

"All sporting events and competitions of any order or discipline, whether public or private, held in any place, will be cancelled.

"However, the holding of events and competitions and training sessions for competitive athletes in closed sports facilities will be permitted. In all cases, sports associations and clubs will be required to implement appropriate checks to limit the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.

The Italian government's drastic decision means that some sporting events held in closed stadiums, such as Serie A soccer matches, will be allowed to take place, but the nature of road racing means that it is virtually impossible to limit contact between riders, the public, and race staff means that it is virtually impossible to restrict contact between athletes, the public, and race staff.

The decree cancels the RCS Sport men's and women's races, Strade Bianche (March 7), Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17), Milan-San Remo (March 8), and Tour of Sicily (April 1-4), as well as the GP Larciano ( Industria & Artigianato (March 8), Popolarissima (March 15), the elite and junior races of the Women's World Tour Trofeo Alfredo Binda (March 22), and Settimana Coppi e Bartali (March 25-29).

The Italian authorities will also be holding a number of other events.

Italian authorities confirmed Wednesday evening that the number of positive tests for coronavirus has risen to 2,703, 107 people have died, 295 are in intensive care in hospitals, while at least 276 have fully recovered from the virus. More than 80% of the infected cases have occurred in northern Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna, but isolated cases are being found hourly throughout Italy.

Due to the risk of the coronavirus, many teams have already suspended travel to Italy, and Mitchelton-Scott has also announced that it will miss the Paris-Nice and women's one-day races Ronde van Drenthe, Danilis Nokele-Coors, and Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

On the day of the coronavirus update, 14 doctors from several teams, led by EF Pro Cycling, called for teams to avoid racing, citing the lack of a "robust plan" by the UCI and race organizers to address concerns over the spread of the coronavirus He called for.

The UCI subsequently announced that it would refuse to cancel the race, but that race organizers must take a number of measures aimed at limiting the risk of further spread of the coronavirus.

These measures include, among other things, increasing the distance between spectators and athletes in the start-finish zones, adhering to strict medical protocols, and limiting the number of teams staying in the same hotel.

The UCI added that no team will be financially penalized if they are unable to participate in the competition for legitimate reasons, nor will their sporting performance be reflected in their ranking.

RCS Sport's Mauro Veni said Wednesday that he would prefer that the Italian race be held at a later date in the 2020 season rather than potentially being cancelled from the calendar altogether.

"We will work with the UCI to find new slots on the calendar for these races that we absolutely do not want to lose," Veni said. We have alternatives in mind so that the races are not lost, possibly after the Giro d'Italia in June, or even in September."

Some teams have already announced that they will withdraw from the Italian race, forcing them to make difficult decisions about their participation in the other March races on the calendar, including which riders will participate in Paris-Nice if the French race is held.