After a dozen new locally-acquired coronavirus cases within Brisbane, Australia the UCI Tour de Brisbane scheduled 11 April has been cancelled just hours before the start.

“As a result of the recent clusters and tracing issues in Queensland and Northern New South Wales the community at large is nervous, with many large events including the ‘Bluesfest’ Festival cancelled. To conduct our event with 6,500+ participants and an expected 2,500+ supporters was considered too high risk for the community,” race director Mike Crawley announced.

Solemnly adding, “I, unfortunately, have to advise you that the 2021 Tour de Brisbane will not be going ahead as scheduled on the weekend of April 9-11.”

Now, cancelled for the second year in a row the event hopes to reschedule the 2021 edition in July, but no date or firm plans are in place.

Also cancelling for the second year in a row and withdrawing from the 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Series is France’s only world championship qualifying race, Granfondo Vosges, scheduled 16 May.

“The organizers of the Granfondo Vosges have tried everything, especially through an application and a selection process to become a test event. However, the current sanitary situation has been stronger than this edition that should have been held on May 16th,” the organiser posted on social media.

Both races are part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series which allows amateur cyclists worldwide to qualify for the annual Gran Fondo World Championships. After the series was cancelled last year, 24 races were scheduled in 2021. Due to the ongoing pandemic, now more than 60% of the races have been scrubbed and the likelihood of World Championships occurring in September in Bosnia-Herzegovina is growing more distant every day.

Photos © UCI GFWS

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