Coronavirus has severely disrupted the European racing season, but the world's most testing mountain bike races have yet to be affected.

The 2020 Cape Epic is keeping abreast of health warnings, but South Africa has not seen the same extreme public assembly restrictions that apply in Europe.

"We are monitoring the situation with public health authorities and authorities, including the South African Department of Health. At this stage, the Western Cape provincial government is not proposing any changes to the arrangements for the public event and therefore Cape Epic will go ahead as planned.

While Italy is effectively on lockdown, South Africa has experienced only a few cases of coronavirus transmission.

The Cape Epic is scheduled to start this coming Sunday, and organizers are taking into consideration the diverse ridership of the event. The Cape Epic race director cautioned riders to practice the highest level of hygiene both in their home countries and while attending the event, as many riders will be flying in from Europe.

In the very unlikely scenario that the 2020 Cape Epic is cancelled, teams will forgo their entry fees in accordance with the event's standing rules regarding refunds due to race cancellation.

Riders from outside of South Africa should be familiar with travel restrictions from their country of origin.

In South Africa, seven cases of Covid-19 infection have been confirmed in people returning from ski trips in Italy, but these cases occurred in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, far from the Western Cape region where the Cape Epic will be held. There have been no cases of coronavirus in the Western Cape. Therefore, the local government does not feel the need to adopt strict policies that would disrupt the race.