Coronavirus hits Spanish Grand Tour in Netherlands

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - The Organizing Committee of Vuelta a Espana (Spanish Grand Tour) confirmed Wednesday that the opening stage of the tour in Utrecht and North Brabant has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The departure of La Vuelta 20 from Holland was a project that had been designed as a big summer party. Faced with the impossibility of ensuring the planned development of the race’s official departure, with all of the required guarantees for an event of these characteristics, La Vuelta Holanda has preferred to request the official departure’s cancellation," La Vuelta said in a statement.

According to the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, the death toll from the virus has stood at 4,566 in the country as of Tuesday, also the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 38,416 with 171 new additions.

After first appearing in China last December, the COVID-19 virus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

According to data compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University, worldwide infections surpassed 3.12 million with more than 217,500 deaths. Over 935,600 have recovered.