The Enduro World Series (EWS) has announced that the first two rounds of the 2020 season in Colombia and Chile have been postponed in an effort to help contain the global spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus).
This news comes just a day after the UCI (hang on Dean Lucas may of first) announced the postponement of the opening event of the UCI World-Cup downhill season in Lousã, Portugal.
Round one scheduled to take place in Manizales, Colombia at the end of the month has been moved to the weekend of 6-7 November whilst round two that was due to take place on April 4-5 in Farellones, Chile will now take place on 14-15 November 2020.
South America currently has a very low incidence of confirmed cases of Coronavirus, but with riders travelling to the events from across the globe the decision has been made to delay the races until later in the year in the interest of everyone’s safety.
“In order to best protect all staff, riders, fans and act in the most responsible way possible in the world’s current situation, we have made the decision to postpone our first two rounds. We hope the early decision of this date change helps to remove stress from a situation that is causing us all a great deal of difficulty. We look forward to getting our season started in May and thank all of our partners and staff for their support in these challenging times.”
Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series
Speaking from Colombia, round one Race Director Jorge Mario Jaramillo said:
“The planet faces a fairly delicate health situation. This situation has globally affected multiple massive events, mainly sports. For the global well-being of athletes and spectators, and for recommendations of local, national and world authorities it is out of our hands and we have no choice but to delay the EWS Manizales. The party is postponed!”
We’ll keep our ears to the ground and keep you in the loop with any updates. Till then, go shred in the bush away from people! Or go straight to the source at www.enduroworldseries.com
As for the UCH DH Season.
The Downhill riders had been gearing up to get their season underway at the brand-new venue on March 21-22. All large initiatives during the month of March and the beginning of April have been suspended in the Lousã area on instruction from the Portuguese public health authorities.
“Due to the current pneumonia epidemic (Covid-19) linked to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which has also affected Portugal in recent days, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) must announce that the opening round of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup which was to take place at Louzanpark in Lousã on 21 and 22 March will not take place on the scheduled dates.”
“The UCI fully supports the decision taken by the Lousã local authorities and the Montanha Clube to reschedule the event based on the instructions made on 10 March by the Portuguese public health authorities. In light of the current situation, the running of the event would have potentially presented a health risk to riders, to everyone involved in the event and to fans, and could have contributed to the spread of Covid-19. The new date of the event will be announced by the UCI after consultation with the organising committee and the country’s health authorities, taking into account the overall calendar of the series and depending on the evolution of the spread of the coronavirus worldwide and in Portugal.”