GF Gimondi suspends registrations: the event is in doubt
The organizers of the event to be held in Bergamo on Sunday, May 10th, are worried by the unfolding of the COVID-19 outbreak. “We must verify whether the conditions exist and make a decision quickly”
The significant spread of the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus) recorded in the last few days in the Bergamo area has led the 24th Gran Fondo Internazionale Felice Gimondi Bianchi organizers to the decision of temporarily suspend the registrations for the event to be held on Sunday, May 10th.
“This is a due and responsible act” – explained Giuseppe Manenti, head of GM Sport organizing company – “seeing how the outbreak is affecting some of the areas crossed by the event. We believe that sport can’t remain a world apart in front of a similar emergency “.
There are still more than two months to the Bergamo competition, loved by Italian and foreign cyclists for the quality of its organization “but that’s part of the reason why we need to ponder our decisions – Manenti said. “We are used to offer the maximum level of safety to our participants, and this implies the employment of a significant number of people, largely volunteers, and adequate equipment. We have to consider the risk that large groups of assistants may be called urgently to carry out higher priorities on the day of the event, putting us in the position of not being able to guarantee the usual safety standards “.
GM Sport will take the next few days to assess the situation and make a final decision, that could possibly lead to the cancellation of the event, as already happened to other similar competitions in Italy: “We will act with the greatest sense of responsibility – Manenti concluded – evaluating every possible solution to protect our loyal participants. We were not lucky in 2019, due to bad weather, and we are even less this time, in the edition in which we wanted to celebrate the Gimondi legend. But I am sure that Felice would has sharing our feeling: every priority should be reserved for those whose health is affected at the moment”.
Bergamo (Italy), March 6th, 2020
