Coronavirus: Tour de France working on new start date

French government's decision to ban public gatherings until mid July

Colombia's Egan Bernal celebrates in Paris after winning the Tour de France on July 28, 2019. AFP

Colombia's Egan Bernal, second right, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, passes by the Louvre in Paris on July 28, 2019. AFP

Cyclists ride dwon the Champs Elysees avenue with the Arc de Triomphe in background. AFP

The peloton ride down the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 28, 2019. AFP

Colombia's Egan Bernal, left, of Team Ineos passes by the Louvre in Paris during the final stage on July 28, 2019. AFP

Cyclists rise past the Eiffel Tower during the final stage on July 28, 2019. AFP

The peloton rides through the courtyard of the Louvre museum on July 28, 2019. AFP

Colombia's Egan Bernal, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey and cyclists ride down the Champs Elysees avenue next to the Arc de Triomphe on July 28, 2019. AFP

Colombians celebrate as they watch the Tour de France in Zipaquira, Cundinamarca, Colombia on July 27, 2019. Egan Bernal was poised to become Colombia's first Tour de France winner and the youngest of any nationality since 1909. AFP

Colombia's Egan Bernal celebrates on the podium after the 20th stage between Albertville and Val Thorens, in Val Thorens, on July 27, 2019. AFP

Fans cheer as France's Romain Bardet, left, and Michael Woods of Canada during the 18th stage between Embrun and Valloire, in Valloire, on July 25, 2019. AFP

The peloton rides throught the Casse Deserte, to the Col de l'Izoard during the 18th stage between Embrun and Valloire, in Valloire, on July 25, 2019. AFP

Colombia's Nairo Quintana celebrates after winning the 18th stage on July 25, 2019. AFP

Colombia's Nairo Quintana celebrates after winning the 18th stage, on July 25, 2019. AFP

French rider Julian Alaphilippe, centre, during the 18th stage on July 25, 2019. AFP

The peleton during the 18th stage between Embrun and Valloire, in Valloire, on July 25, 2019. AFP

The peleton passes by the Lac de Serre-Poncon during the 18th stage on July 25, 2019. AFP

Fans cheer the peleton during the 16th stage on July 23, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, crosses the Pont du Gard during the 16th stage on July 23, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe celebrates on the podium after the 15th stage between Limoux and Foix Prat d'Albis, on July 21, 2019. AFP

Fans cheer Great Britain's Simon Yates during the 15th stage between Limoux and Foix Prat d'Albis, on July 21, 2019. AFP

Fans during the 14th stage between Tarbes and Tourmalet Bareges, on July 20, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe celebrates after the 14th stage between Tarbes and Tourmalet Bareges, on July 20, 2019. AFP

Left to right: Belgium's Thomas De Gendt, Stephane Rossetto of France and France's Lilian Calmejane during the 11th stage between Albi and Toulouse, on July 17, 2019. AFP

France's Thibaut Pinot celebrates after winning the 14th stage between Tarbes and Tourmalet Bareges, on July 20, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, during the 14th stage between Tarbes and Tourmalet Bareges, on July 20, 2019. AFP

Argentina's Maximiliano Richeze rides past fans during the 13th stage - a 27.2km individual time-trial in Pau, on July 19, 2019. AFP

Left to right: Germany's Nikias Arndt, Pierre-Luc Perichon of France, Belgium's Tiesj Benoot and Andrea Pasqualon of Italy during the 12th stage between Toulouse and Bagneres-de-Bigorre, on July 18, 2019. AFP

The peleton rides during the 11th stage between Albi and Toulouse, on July 17, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, during the 10th stage between Saint-Flour and Albi, on July 15, 2019. AFP

The peleton during the 9th stage between Saint-Etienne and Brioude in Saint-Etienne, eastern France, on July 14, 2019. AFP

France's Julian Alaphilippe celebrates after the 9th stage between Saint-Etienne and Brioude, in Brioude, eastern France, on July 14, 2019. AFP

Fans cheer the riders in the Mur d'Aurec-sur-Loire during the 9th stage Saint-Etienne and Brioude, on July 14, 2019. AFP

Tour de France organisers are working feverishly in the shadows to find a new start date for cycling's biggest stage race after public gatherings were banned until mid-July in the latest extension of the French cornavirus lockdown.

Originally slated to start from Nice with a caravan of around 4,500 people on June 27 and arrive in Paris July 19, there is no chance the event can go ahead as planned and organisers face a mammoth logistical task of rescheduling.

So far organisers Amoury Sports Organisation (ASO) have remained silent publicly, but several mayors of the French towns along the planned route say they have been consulted on the matter of the new date.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address Monday that a strict lockdown in France would continue until at least May 11 and public gatherings were banned until mid July.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said previously that riders would need two clear months after the lockdown ended to get ready for the race, which is no longer possible given the May 11 extension.

France's Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner spelled out on Tuesday that ASO had to reschedule or cancel.

"It is up to the organiser to analyse their ability to organise it and reschedule it," Castaner said on French radio.

Speculations surrounds a possible late July start, or mid-August, or even a September race.

ASO's reorganisation task is massive for an event with 21 start towns, 21 finish lines and over 3,000km of route and 500,000 roadside fans per day.

Suggestions the tour could be held behind closed doors have been ruled out. Fans are a key element of the Tour which is synonymous with the holidays in France, with the party atmosphere popping as the caravan winds its way through the prettiest parts of the country.

"The Tour de France is 3,000km of smiles," Prudhomme has said in reference to the holiday roadside gatherings. "We won't run a Tour de France without the fans."

Macron's announcement may have caught the organisers short and many people in France were surprised when the mid-July ban was announced.

A late July start for the Tour could be considered too close to that ban on public gatherings while also running up against another problem. To be able to race 21 tough stages, the athletes need to be in peak condition, and would ideally need a one-week preparation race before it.

ASO own the Criterium du Dauphine eight-day race and had been hoping to use that jaunt through the Alps in late June or early July. But that event has been postponed.

A second obstacle would be hotels, which would normally expect to be fully booked in the first two weeks in August.

A mid-August start would see the finish in September, meaning a clash with the Vuelta a Espana.

The Tour could be staged in September, but would lose its own sense of identity by moving out of the holiday period.

There are only 176 riders on a Tour, but the whole event involves around 4,500 people with team staff, logistics, police and media all moving every day in a minor miracle of organisation.