CNN  — 

With the list of sporting postponements growing ever longer, the fate of cycling’s Tour de France would seem almost inevitable.

The world’s most prestigious bike race takes place annually in France and sometimes the surrounding countries. One of the most supreme tests of sporting endurance, the event is also embedded in French culture and society, will millions of fans lining the roads to watch the Tour.

Which perhaps explains why organizers have remained tight-lipped about how the Tour – currently scheduled to begin in Nice on June 27 – might be impacted by the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has brought Europe to a standstill.

France’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu has suggested that the race, one of cycling’s three “Grand Tours” alongside the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, could go ahead behind closed doors.