According to Wielerflits.nl, a stage of the BinckBank Tour that was scheduled to start in the Netherlands has been canceled after a surge in coronavirus cases prompted the Dutch government to take new, stricter measures.

Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) won the opening stage in Ardoy on Tuesday to take the overall lead ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Mike Tunissen (Jumbo-Visma).

The race was scheduled to head north to Vlissingen for the 10.9km individual time trial, but a surge of COVID-19 in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague prompted Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to act.

Beginning Tuesday, the government advised against unnecessary travel between these cities and banned large gatherings. [Meanwhile, stage 4 was scheduled to start in Riemst, Belgium, outside Maastricht, enter the Netherlands, and finish in Sittard. [Thus, stage 5 from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve to Geraardsbergen was the only stage unaffected by the restrictions.

This decision was made jointly by the municipalities of Sittard-Geleen, Terneuzen, and Vlissingen, which could not allow the race to continue under the new regulations.

"It was a painful but necessary decision to prevent the spread of the virus," Vlissingen Mayor Bas van den Tillaar told Limburger.nl.

"Unfortunately, we had to make this difficult decision, however much we wanted to host this sporting event," said Hans Verheijen, mayor of Sittard-Geleen.

Terneuzen Mayor Jan Lonink added, "Unfortunately, it is not possible to continue this bike race. That is, of course, very disappointing for the riders, the organization, and everyone involved. 19]

The Bink Bank Tour was originally scheduled for August 31-September 6, but was changed as part of the UCI's restructuring of the 2020 road calendar after races from March to August were cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic.

The stage at Dockum in the Netherlands was cancelled and the race shortened from seven to five days.

However, due to a favorable turnaround in infection rates in the Netherlands, the Netherlands reversed this decision. This meant that the Dutch National Championships would now be held in August, as the race could be held earlier than expected, starting July 1, and the Binkbank organizers would add a new stage in the Netherlands, including a finish in Sittard.

This action also puts a question mark over the Amstel Gold Race scheduled for Saturday, October 10. The race will be held in the same region as Sittard, with the finish only 20 km away in Valkenburg; the Dutch time trial championships scheduled for October 7 were canceled on Tuesday

. 'It's very exciting, we've been discussing it all day.

"It was a good feeling nonetheless. We submitted our plans last week to the UCI and at both the national and local level. Everything looked like it was going to be approved, but yesterday's tightening put everything in jeopardy again.

"The decision is in the hands of the 'security regions'. They must take the plunge. All we can do is to do everything in our power to make everything as safe as possible. We do not know at this point when the decision will be made. [33] [34] "Plan A has been off the table for a long time, and so is Plan B. We are already working on Plan C.