Tour de Yorkshire organisers have admitted it is ‘realistic’ to assume this year's edition of the race will be move to 2021.

This season's event was due to get underway on Thursday, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And although Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive James Mason still hopes there is a way the four-day stage race can be held this calendar year, he is also aware of the likelihood it will be pushed into next season.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: "The longer this goes on the more likely it is that it will be next year. There are too many imponderables as to when mass sporting events can take place again and they're all backing up.

"We don't want to put it on just to sneak it in this year when we may face inclement weather or we risk putting the race on and undoing the spectacle it could be, when if we can do it at a more appropriate time we can really use it to celebrate a rebirth and recovery of tourism in Yorkshire.

"We have to be realistic and say time is running out for this year because we could be months away from sport happening."

Cycling's governing body, the UCI, have suspended all racing until at least June 1 in a bid to protect riders.

And the Tour de France - the sport's biggest race of the calendar year - has also been moved from a start date of June 27 to August 29.