The authorities are pessimistic
16 regions in France went back into lockdown over the weekend for at least a month. Lockdown restrictions include the closure of non-essential shops and resident travel limited to within 10 kilometres of home. Paris-Roubaix is planned for April 11 and would take place entirely within one of the 16 regions under lockdown.
The prefect of the Hauts-de-France region said it’s unlikely that Paris-Roubaix will happen. Hospitals are currently overwhelmed in Hauts-de-France, and ICU beds have an occupancy rate of nearly 120%.
“I’ll give you an answer when the time is right, but right now you can guess,” Michel Lalande told the radio station France Bleu Nord. “The sky now looks less blue.”
The 2020 Paris-Roubaix was postponed until October and then cancelled altogether as a result of the pandemic. This year, with vaccination programmes under way, we hope to see it happen, should it be moved to the October date.
When approached, the ASO said they would not be making a comment at this time.
