UCI Cancels Tour of Hainan Over Coronavirus Concerns

Due to the 2019-nCoV—colloquially known as the Wuhan coronavirus—outbreak in China, the UCI has canceled the Tour of Hainan, which was set to take place from February 23 to March 1.
The race was part of the inaugural UCI ProSeries and may be rescheduled if UCI’s calendar allows.
So far, more than 4,600 cases of the virus and 107 deaths have been confirmed in China, with 33 cases in Hainan province.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on January 27 that the Tour of Hainan, scheduled to take place in China’s southernmost province from February 23 to March 1, has been canceled “due to the health situation in China linked to the presence of the coronavirus.”

Created in 2006, the race was included in this year’s inaugural UCI ProSeries (formerly known as the HC classification), which is the second highest racing division in pro cycling below the WorldTour.

The UCI said the race might be rescheduled in 2020, “depending on the availability of the calendar.”

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The island of Hainan is situated roughly 770 miles to the southwest of Wuhan, China—the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Several cases of the virus (officially termed 2019-nCoV) first drew the attention of the World Health Organization on December 31, which was originally believed to be pneumonia. A few days later, on January 3, 44 cases were reported.

As of January 28, more than 4,600 cases have been confirmed in China, along with 107 deaths, according to CNBC; there have been 33 confirmed cases in Hainan province. There have also been confirmed cases in 16 other countries, including five confirmed cases in the United States.

Other sports organizations are following suit in an effort to protect their athletes and staff:

The Olympic women’s basketball qualifying tournament, scheduled for February 6-9 in Foshan in Guangdong province in southern China, has been moved to Belgrade.
An Olympic women’s soccer qualifying tournament had already been moved from Wuhan to Nanjing, but will now be held in Sydney.
The Fed Cup women’s tennis tournament, involving China, Taiwan, India, South Korea and Uzbekistan, will be held in the Kazakh capital on the originally scheduled dates of February 4-8.
The Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, planned for February 12 to 13 in Hangzhou, have been canceled. The world championships are supposed to take place in Nanjing a month later.

The UCI said it is “in regular contact with the Chinese authorities.” The next scheduled UCI race in China is the women’s Tour of Chongqing Island near Shanghai, from May 7 to May 9.