The announcement of the 2021 Tour de France route has been postponed and scaled back, with stage details to be announced on Sunday evening in a special edition of the French TV program "Stud 2."

The announcement was scheduled to take place on Thursday morning at the Palais des Congrès in central Paris. However, France is struggling to battle the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with the number of cases in the capital.

President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to deliver a televised address Wednesday evening amid reports that the French government is considering a month-long blockade to slow the surge in infected people. More than 33,000 new cases of infection and 523 deaths were reported in France on Tuesday.

"Given the current public health situation, which continues to force governments to take new decisions in the fight against COVID-19, the organizers of the Tour de France have decided not to announce the route for the 2021 edition at the Palais des Congrès on Thursday, October 29, 2020," race organizer ASO announced.

"Details of the Tour de France 2021 will instead be presented as a Stade 2 (weekly sports program) special with Christian Prudhomme live on France TV on Sunday, November 1. International programming will also be distributed simultaneously on the official Tour de France platform as well as on the platforms of official broadcasters around the world.

Stade 2 will be broadcast every Sunday at 20:00 CET. Cycling News will provide details of the route.

The 2020 Tour de France has been rescheduled from July to September, and despite an increase in infections throughout France and several positive cases among the team staff, the team managed to arrive in Paris. Race director Christian Prudhomme tested positive on the first rest day, but recovered quickly and returned to racing.

Tadej Pogachar of UAE Team Emirates snatched the overall win from Primoz Roglic of Jumbo Visma in the final time trial.

The 2021 Tour de France will start on June 26, a week earlier than usual due to the postponement of the Olympic Games into late July.

The Grande Palais will be held in Brittany because the start in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, has been cancelled due to the hosting of the European Championship soccer matches at the end of June.

Four stages will be held in Brittany, and although not yet confirmed, Le Télégramme reports that the second stage will visit the punchy Mule de Brittany, which Dan Martin won in 2018.

The Alps are likely to feature early on after the race crosses central France. The Pyrenees are expected to host the final mountain stage before a time trial through the vineyards of Bordeaux to Saint-Emilion.