Paris-Roubaix called off again

According to French newspaper Le Parisien’s website on Wednesday, Paris-Roubaix, scheduled for April 11, has been called off again because of COVID-19, with the possibility of an autumn edition. Last year the race–along with the new women’s edition–was postponed and then cancelled entirely.

Last week 16 departments of France were ordered on lockdown for one month because of an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Paris-Roubaix would take place entirely within one of those departments.

On Monday Michel Lalande, head of the Hauts-de-France region where most of the Hell of the North’s cobbles lay, talked to the France Bleu Nord radio station about the race’s chances, saying, “The sky now looks less blue.”

Last year the races were postponed until October 9 and then scrapped because of an increase in COVID-19 cases. According to Le Parisien, there’s the possibility of the men’s and women’s races being held on Sunday, October 24 or Halloween Sunday. Currently, the men’s WorldTour is supposed to end on October 19 with the Gree-Tour of Guangxi, and the Women’s WorldTour is scheduled to come to a close on October 23 with Ronde van Drenthe.

Paris-Roubaix postponed to autumn.
That’s it, that’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/tSyoQ58ISg

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 24, 2021

The next WorldTour race scheduled for France is the Critérium du Dauphiné from May 30 to June 6, and the next Women’s WorldTour round in France is La Course by Le Tour de France on June 27.