Quito -
The increase in COVID-19 infections in Argentina led to the cancellation of the 39th edition of the Vuelta a San Juan, which was supposed to take place from January 24th to 31st. The Ecuadorian team was included in the list of invited teams.
This Monday, the official announcement was made by the governor of the province of San Juan, Sergio Uñac. "With the corresponding advice, we have made the decision to cancel the 39th edition and the 4th international edition of the Vuelta a San Juan. There will also be no edition with national or provincial teams. We hope that next year we can recover the competition," he expressed.
"The reality of infections and population size, economic mobility, and the need to maintain a balance that we seek in the province have made it appropriate not to develop this edition because we cannot guarantee safety in an eight-stage race, especially knowing the passion that San Juan locals have for this sport," Uñac pointed out.
Meanwhile, the organization of the race, one of the most prestigious on the continent, stated in a release that "the decision is in response to public and notorious facts, as well as recommendations from national and international organizations regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19)."
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
-- Here are the details of the press conference, where the cancellation of the Vuelta a San Juan 2021 was announced. https://t.co/SV7RPgj0Xw
— Vuelta a San Juan OK (@vueltasanjuanok) January 11, 2021
In December, the presence of four WorldTour teams had been confirmed, including the debut of Chris Froome with his new team, the Israel Start-Up Nation, which, together with Cofidis Solutions Credits (France), BORA-hansgrohe (Germany), and Deceuninck-Quick Step (Belgium), would animate the event with figures like Peter Sagan, Filippo Ganna, Joao Almeida, among others.
Professional teams like Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec, which includes Ecuadorian Alexander Cepeda, also announced their participation, but ultimately decided to focus their season debut on the Vuelta al Táchira (Venezuela). Other invited teams in this category were Bardani-CSF-Fainzané, Vini Zabú-KTM, and Rally Cycling.
The Ecuadorian national team was also among the invited teams, but due to the health situation in Argentina, the management had been stopped until the cancellation of the race was announced this Monday.
In the last 24 hours, Argentina reported 78 deaths and 7,808 new cases of infection, bringing the total number of cases to 1,722,217 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The average number of daily cases in the last seven days is 11,643 infected, with over 58% diagnosed in the province of Buenos Aires, according to the latest report from the local Ministry of Health. (D)