Turkey was preparing itself for what is one of the country's most prestigious cycling races this week, but on the 5th of February tragedy as struck as a 7.8 earthquake struck southern Turkey, with the region where the
Tour of Antalya was set to be raced being heavily affected.
The race was set to take place between the 9th and 12th of February and had gathered a prestigious set of World Tour teams and riders including Arnaud Démare. All the preparations were ready but the organizers have announced this morning that it would not be possible to run the event under such conditions. As the country's resources go into helping victims of the disaster, it would not be viable or ethical to divert resources into the event, which was won by Uno-X Pro Cycling Team's Jacob Hindsgaul last season.