The CCC team announced that it will miss next week's Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19. This means that five teams from the World Tour will not participate in Paris-Nice, and a total of nine teams have cancelled their participation in Tirreno-Adriatico.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, coach Jim Ochowicz criticized the UCI for its "lack of direction at a critical time for the sport."

This weekend's Strade Bianche and Larciano GPs have already been postponed due to new restrictions on rallies in Italy to combat the spread of the coronavirus, but organizer RCS Sport has yet to make a decision on the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Sanremo No decision has been made.

After the cancellation of Strade Bianche, it was initially suggested that CCC team classic leader Greg Van Avermaat might compete in Paris-Nice instead of Tirreno-Adriatico, but the team has since decided that next week's World Tour stage race The team decided not to compete in either.

CCC team doctor Max Testa explained the team's reasoning, citing concerns about the spread of Covid-19 and the risk of being quarantined when riders return home after the event.

"Cycling is a unique sport, with teams traveling from town to town daily for stage races, staying in different hotels each night, and coming into contact with the public in a largely unsupervised environment. The health of our riders, staff, and the public is our top priority, and with so many unknowns about what protocols are feasible in a stage race, we believe that withdrawing is the right decision," Testa said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

"At this time of the season, the incidence of upper respiratory illness (URTI) and fever is high and it is inevitable that riders and staff will become ill during the race. Without a detailed quarantine plan and prompt testing protocols and communication of results, teams are actively exposing riders and staff to exposure, infection, and quarantine risks.

"We also need to consider the quarantine risks when riders and staff return to their home countries from these races. For these reasons we have decided to withdraw from Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico."

The CCC team has withdrawn from both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, following Mitchelton Scott, Astana ProTeam, Team Ineos, and UAE Team Emirates, plus Groupama-FDJ, AG2R La Mondiale, EF Pro Cycling, and Jumbo Visma have indicated that they will skip the Italian race even if it is held.

"It was not a simple decision to withdraw from Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico.

"We are acting on behalf of our riders and staff and are responsible for reducing the risk of infection in these stage races; the situation surrounding COVID-19 is changing rapidly and we will continue to monitor the changing situation and adjust our race calendar accordingly."

France currently has 377 COVID-19 cases spread across the country, but ASO continues to plan for the Paris-Nice (March 8-15) as it will take place. Following a string of withdrawals on Wednesday and Thursday, the race organizers have reportedly allowed eight instead of seven competitors, and have issued belated invitations to Circus-Groupe Gaubert and B&B Hotels-Vital Concept to compete.

"We would like to express our continued support for both the ASO and the RCS. However, we are disappointed by the UCI's lack of direction at this critical time for the sport."