EWS Round 1, Colombia and EWS Round 2, Chile have both become the latest sporting events to be postponed in order to help control the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. They have been postponed to consecutive weekends in November 2020 instead.
With this latest event postponement, it means that enduro is the latest cycling discipline to be affected, along with the Downhill World Cup and cross country events including the massive gathering of the Sea Otter Classic in California next month. Interestingly, the Cape Epic will still go ahead this weekend, with tighter hygiene controls in place.
Here’s what the Enduro World Series has just released:
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).
Round one scheduled to take place in Manizales, Colombia at the end of the month has been moved to the weekend of 7-8 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.
Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series, said: “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.”
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!”
And round two Race Director Ignacio Barboas added: “We as Montenbaik see this as an opportunity, since we will have the last race of the year of the Enduro World Series. This gives us more time to surprise everyone even more with the best trails and a high-level event.”
Keep up with EWS news here: https://www.enduroworldseries.com/news/
