Danish rider Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has said 'other things are more important' than bike racing despite the severe disruption coronavirus has caused on the cycling calendar.

The 24-year-old, who was looking to build on a stellar 2019 campaign, has been forced to leave her home in Girona and return to her native country of Denmark due to the lockdown by the Spanish government.

And although several of the classics races have been postponed including Flèche Wallonne (April 22) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 26), Ludwig remains optimistic about the situation she finds herself in.

Speaking to Cycling News, she said: “I am riding outside, but I’m doing it on my own. And I do not have a problem with that. It is just great to be able to get some fresh air.

“I was training hard during the winter, I was looking forward to racing for my new team, and I had expectations to do better than last year. And then everything is cancelled. It is a strange situation right now, we do not know when we will be able to race again, and of course that is sad.

"But I trust the authorities to have made the right decisions. I still have a job, I know I can go out and train on my bike, and that makes me happy. 

"And if this should be restricted in Denmark too, I can still ride on a turbo trainer at home. It helps put things into perspective – in the end, it’s just a bike race; other things are more important than that.”

Meanwhile, the ten-stage Giro Rosa Grand Tour, which is scheduled to get underway at the end of June, is yet to be postponed by organisers.