Holding out: Tour de France yet to be postponed amid virus

PARIS — Perhaps no other sports event puts so many fans in such close contact with athletes as the Tour de France. But unlike almost every other major sporting event this summer, the Tour has yet to be called off despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For now, the start date remains June 27 -- and there is a possibility that the race could be held without any fans lining the course.

France's sports minister Roxana Mărăcineanu said the Tour can still exist in a time of social distancing. Mărăcineanu says staging the race without fans "would not be so disadvantageous because we could watch it on television.”