Coronavirus: No races cancelled yet, says UCI … but more and more teams are pulling out of upcoming events; Rasmussen wants his Colnagos back; More people want cycling investment; Bolton Council forgets cycling + more on the live blog

French UCI WorldTour outfit Groupama-FDJ has announced it will not race at Strade Bianche on Saturday or Tirreno-Adriatico next week.

The team is one of four with riders and staff currently in quarantine in an Abu Dhabi hotel following the UAE Tour last week. 

It said on Twitter that situation was partly to blame for it "lacking sufficient numbers of available riders and staff" and its decision to pull out of the Italian races.

pic.twitter.com/RBbyU4yJmK

— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) March 4, 2020

The multiple former National Cyclocross Champion Ian Field has announced the creation of his coaching company 'Veld'. The name comes from the Dutch translation of 'field', Ian's surname. Speaking about the new venture, Field said:

"Having coached for eight years on a limited basis while racing professionally, I am excited to now be in a position to dedicate time to launch my own coaching vision".

Veld will offer a range of plans on a pay-monthly basis. To find out more, click to the link below.

www.veldcoaching.com

Mathieu van der #Poel is terug op de fiets en maakt plezier met Zdenek #Stybar! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/o2RPSfyaKV

— Wieler Revue (@wielerrevue) March 4, 2020

We're not sure exactly the make and model of the contraption Stybar has on his bars, but it'll certainly get you heard. The footage was posted by Mathieu van der Poel, who is back on his bike after missing a considerable amount of training recently due to a heavy flu (no, not THAT flu).  

Glasgow's Active Travel project will commence as part of the council's bid to tackle the climate crisis and improve public health, reports Glasgow Live. The project is been presided over by Sustrans, and it's hoped the new protected cycle routes will boost active travel in the city. 

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson promised even more funds in the future, saying: "For our wellbeing, health and climate – people require more opportunities to walk, cycle and wheel for shorter everyday journeys. As we respond to the climate emergency, this focus has never been greater and our funding is now at record levels. The draft budget proposes over £85 million for active travel, much of which will be match funded, and that is before an additional £15 million in ring-fenced local authority funding which brings the amount to over £100 million pounds."

To go or not to go. We take our own responsibility. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/t6H8zW94gq

— PHVCT (@PushingDreamsNL) March 4, 2020

The team have joined EF Pro Cycling in pulling out of the Strade Bianche, citing safety concerns. 

The statement says: "We are not going to Siena and start on the Strade Bianche on March 7th. The same is for the Trofeo Alfredo Binda on March 22nd.  

"It is super unfortunate that we have to come to this conclusion at the latest timing, but if the Italian government, the race organisation or the UCI will not take responsibility, then we need to take it." 

Riders actually in quarantine are the riders of UAE, Gazprom, FDJ and Cofidis

There is only One Colombian there and is Gaviria.

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) March 4, 2020

The UAE Team Emirates rider was the only Colombian at the race, therefore there is speculation that he is one of the six positive tests confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the UAE. Various media outlets including Semana and El Deportivo have essentially confirmed Gaviria is one of those infected. 

Y aqui seguimos.. 6° día. Resulta que hay positivos en otro equipo. Lo lógico hubiese sido dejarnos salir justo después de nuestro segundo negativo en el test, pero no, aquí nos seguimos retenidos. Muchos meses de trabajo tirados a la basura y lo peor, privados de nuesta libertad

— Jesús Herrada López (@jesushl90) March 4, 2020

Lopez said Cofidis have now learned the positive tests were diagnosed in staff from another team as the sixth day of quarantine has begun. He continues: "Many months of work have been thrown away and the worst, we're deprived of our freedom."

Lopez also says they have rollers to keep some kind of fitness, and has accused some journalists of "spreading bull" about the situation. Meanwhile, it looks like Nathan Haas will be spending his birthday in quarantine... 

Looks like I’ll be spending my birthday here... I’m ok with it as long as I can get a cake made in the shape of the coronavirus pic.twitter.com/dhqVGCp6VE

— Nathan Haas (@NathanPeterHaas) March 4, 2020

In an extraordinary U-turn, EF Pro Cycling manager Jonathan Vaughters has not only admitted he was wrong about coronavirus prevention, but his team have now sensationally pulled themselves out of the big three upcoming Italian races. Vaughters sent this tweet on Monday afternoon... 

Very happy to see this. Getting on with business as usual. Accepting risk is part of living. Accepting and embracing risk is a really big part of cycling and professional cycling. So, let’s get on with it and race some bikes! #exploretheworld #chickenlittleneedsprozac https://t.co/XsFneVcl6i

— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) March 2, 2020

And by the evening, he was thanking a medical expert for educating him on the spread of the virus and "medical capacity issues" that he hadn't considered...

A shout out to Dr. Nogueira, who educated me on velocity of spread vs medical capacity issues that I had not considered. While I can’t say more at current time, your lessons to me have profoundly impacted our thinking and strategy going forward. Good things can come from Twitter! https://t.co/bFxAR4wyom

— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) March 2, 2020

In a letter seen by the Wall Street Journal, EF wrote to UCI chief David Lappartient and organisers RCS Sport asking to be excused from the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo because of growing fears surrounding coronavirus:  

“We are writing today to find out if RCS has a robust containment and prevention strategy in place—to our satisfaction—for the protection of both the teams and the communities, or if we can come to a mutual agreement regarding our team’s non-participation in these events.

"These are races our riders are passionate about—they are wove into the soul of professional cycling. That said, the health and safety of our team is paramount, and as the director of the World Health Organisation noted on Monday: ‘Containment of COVID-19 is feasible and must remain the top priority for all countries.”

Jonathan Vaughters' name was attached to the letter, along with their head of medicine and president Mary Wittenberg.

In Europe, Italy has arguably been hit the hardest by the spread of the virus, with almost 2,000 cases reported. Although EF First are required to race at World Tour events due to obligations of their licence, they say that they want to work with directors to guarantee safety and discuss a rescheduling plan. 

Does this latest development mean the races are now doomed? More when we get it... 

The report has some quite promising stats about the public's attitude towards investment in cycling, with 58% of the 17,000 surveyed believing there should be more investment in cycling, while 42% wanted more investment for drivers. 55% believed there were too many people driving in cities, and 56% agreed with the idea of charging more to drivers of heavily polluting vehicles. 68% supported the building of more cycle lanes even if this meant less road space, and 77% believed more segregated cycle lanes would encourage them to cycle more. 

Full story with analysis of this from our news editor later today.