The 2020 Tour de France is set to be postponed following French President Macron's announcement that mass gatherings will remain banned until mid-July.

Macron extended France's lockdown until May 11 when schools and colleges will be re-opened but bars, restaurants, cafes and mass events will not see restrictions relaxed until July.

The Tour de France was scheduled to take place from June 27 to July 19.

Colombian Egan Bernal is the reigning champion of the three-week stage race after he beat 2018 winner Geraint Thomas by one minute and 11 seconds last year.

But Bernal had already stopped training during the lockdown as he returned to his home country to rest and recuperate.

The Tour becomes the latest race to be hit by the coronavirus following cycling's governing body, the UCI, announcing an extension to the suspension of the season to June 1.

The first Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d'Italia, has already been postponed along with a number of the major classics monuments including the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

The World Road Race Championships, which are set for September 20-27 in Switzerland, have not yet been moved.

The third and final Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta Espana, is also yet to be postponed.