Although not on the original race program, Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) will compete in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend amid fears that several races may be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Van Aert, who finished fourth at the World Cyclocross Championships earlier this month, was scheduled to make his road racing season debut at three consecutive one-day races in Italy: the Strade Bianche on March 7, the GP Industria & Artigianato on March 8, and Milan San-Remo on March 21.

However, all three races are at risk due to the spread of the coronavirus. More than 300 people in Italy have tested positive for this new virus, and 11 people have died.

The hardest hit is the northern region of Lombardy, where many towns are currently closed. The Milan-San Remo area, which starts in Milan and runs along the Ligurian coast through Lombardy, is particularly dangerous.

The Strade Bianche and GP Industria both take place a little further south in Tuscany, but cases have also been reported in that region.

"Van Aert's start at Omloop may result in the cancellation of other races in his program," a statement from Jumbo-Visma said.

Some of the soccer matches in Italy's top league this weekend will be played behind closed doors.

Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will take place on a 200 km route that includes many of the cobbled climbs that feature in the Tour of Flanders and other spring classics. Sunday's Coure Brussel-Coulomb will be the so-called opening weekend of the Classic.

Perhaps conscious of the long interval between Flanders on April 5 and Paris-Roubaix on April 12, Van Aert had initially opted to skip the opening weekend, but with the E3 Binkbank Classic and the start of the Flanders Cycling Week on March 27 Omloop may be his only race before.

The coronavirus outbreak has already caused much disruption to cycling. The Tour of Hainan was postponed before the UCI intervened, and all races in China in April and May, including the Women's WorldTour Chongming Island, were postponed. There are even fears that the Olympics could be threatened if the virus is not contained soon.

The virus originated in Wuhan, in eastern China, but has since spread worldwide, with 80,000 confirmed cases and over 2,500 deaths. The worst affected country outside of Asia was Italy.

Earlier this week, RCS Sport chief Mauro Veni told Cycling News that he is particularly concerned about Milan-San Remo and has no plan B in mind, and that the organization's other races, including Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Giro d'Italia He said that the races are also in danger.