Following the decision by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) on Sunday and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Monday to withdraw from the 2020 Olympic Games, Cycling Australia Performance Director Simon Jones told the media that the national cycling teams will now have to come to grips with the fact that they will be aiming for the postponed Games, which could be held in about 16 months time.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound said Monday that the Games will be postponed as a result of the ongoing global coronavirus crisis.

"Yesterday's decision by the AOC not to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Games was a pretty big shock," Jones told media outlets, including Cycling News, in a conference call Tuesday morning.

"The news was communicated by the AOC. They first sent a letter directly to the athletes who are members of the long list. 'We have not yet spoken to all of the players. Communication with the players is mainly left to the coaches. However, I did actually train on the track (Adelaide Superdrome) yesterday before the venue was shut down, so I did meet and talk to some of them in person."

Asked how the Australian Cycling Team riders and staff had taken the news, Jones said it was most important not to make any rash decisions. While an official postponement of the Games has not yet been announced, Australian athletes must look ahead to a possible rescheduling of the Games around July 2021.

"The first thing you have to do in a case like this is get people to absorb the information," Jones said.

"Given that we're no longer going to the convention [that was scheduled for this summer] and that the convention has not been canceled at this point, we're going to have a period of pause, and we'll have to see what happens.

"We're not going to push the idea at this point. From a mental health standpoint, it's really important to let people absorb it in their own way. 'They know where to find support. They have family, they have friends, they have coaches, they have performance support staff, including performance psychologists, and they all have really good relationships.

"Over the course of the next day, week, maybe even month, people will experience different thoughts and feelings," Jones continued. 'Some players might have thought they were going to retire after the tournament. Now that has changed. So there are a lot of decisions that need to be made and a lot of conversations that need to be had in the short term.

"That won't be necessary.

"But I think we will start planning for a convention that I think will take place in the northern hemisphere summer of 2021, and I think that will be a good time to start planning for that.

Jones added that he thought the AOC's decision to withdraw from the Games (presumably in the belief that they would be rescheduled) was the right one.

"It was a big decision, but I think the safety and health of the athletes and staff came first. He added, "If you look at what other countries are trying to do for training, globally, they are trying to do some pretty extreme things to stay healthy, and I think it was the right decision.

"Right now, sports facilities [in Australia] are closed and we have told our coaches not to have face-to-face training sessions. We are very visible as cyclists, so I think as a national team we have to train discreetly and take care of our health," he said.

"The first priority is to address people's wellbeing and mental state. This will affect people in different ways. The Olympics may still be 16 months away. The decisions we make now may not be the right decisions in a few months.

"We were going to have a rest year in 2021, a time to slow down a bit, reflect, learn, and grow.

Jones also updated the press on the status of an Australian Cycling Team staff member who fell ill last week and tested positive for coronavirus. [He has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering well. All other tests that were done just to be sure were also negative."