As Chris Froome and his Team Ineos colleagues flew home from the coronavirus lockdown at the UAE Tour after being given the all-clear, a decision was expected on Monday on whether the major Italian races scheduled for this month will go ahead.

Italy is struggling to contain the outbreak which has resulted in several towns in the Lombardy region being placed in quarantine.

The UAE Tour race caravan was placed in lockdown from Thursday until Sunday as more than 600 riders, team staff, officials, and media were tested, after reports that two members of one of the teams had tested positive for the virus. The race was cancelled two days before the finish with the overall title awarded to Adam Yates.

'We were in coronavirus lockdown': my life in quarantine at the UAE Tour Read more

The Italian races under threat include the opening one-day Classic of the season, Milan-San Remo, on 21 March, the Strade Bianche one‑day race on 7 March and the Tirreno‑Adriatico stage race on 11-17 March.

“We cannot officially say yet that the races are cancelled,” said the Belgian official Tom Van Damme, head of the Union Cycliste Internationale’s road race commission. “It’s too early to say that but the teams will be informed in good time. There’s no doubt an official decision will be taken on Monday. It’s not really a matter for the race organisers RCS, it’s the public bodies that are looking after the situation who will take the decision.”

To complicate the picture, key members of the Italian organisers RCS remained stuck in the United Arab Emirates where they also run the national Tour.

Although Froome and others had been placed in the clear, it was reported that four teams – Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis, Deceuninck-Quickstep and Gazprom-RusVelo – were being kept in quarantine pending further tests. Team UAE Emirates, who are sponsored by the Gulf nation, stated all their riders and staff had tested negative for the virus but the team had chosen to remain in the UAE to be examined further.

“Despite being given the green light to travel home and the last tests carried out coming back negative, our team has decided to extend their stay in the UAE to continue testing everyone’s conditions and go home only with the safety of non-contagion,” read the statement. “In light of some known cases of flu within our group and other teams, we will be tested again in the next few days.”

Sophie Smith (@SophieSmith86) We’ve assembled packed, ready and en masse in our hotel lobby. A medical command operation centre spokesman here has asked for “half an hour” of patience. Test results still being processed, he claims. pic.twitter.com/nVOYe99DGv

Meanwhile, at the world track championships in Berlin, Great Britain closed out a frustrating week with a gold medal on the final day when Elinor Barker gained two laps to score a clear victory in the points race. It was her second win in the event in four years and means the Welshwoman has been GB’s only gold medallist at the past two world track championships.

Barker was the exception in a week when many of the British team looked outgunned, a situation summed up by a single moment just after halfway through the men’s Madison relay on Sunday when the British team of Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood were painfully unable to hang on to the winning Danish team of Lasse-Norman Hansen and Michael Markov – the latter just in from the UAE Tour and riding after a period of quarantine in his Berlin hotel – when they piled on the pressure with the Spanish, Dutch and Germans.

UCI stands by decision to halt UAE Tour over coronavirus uncertainty Read more

In the final women’s sprint event, Katie Marchant was edged out in the semi-final of the keirin, finishing eighth. While the women’s team pursuit and men’s team sprint posted silver-medal rides that bode well for the run-in to Tokyo, Matt Walls secured a bronze in the omnium and Jack Carlin finished just outside the medals in the keirin, there is obvious ground to make up for much of the team.

Great Britain proved unable to win a gold medal at the world championships in any of the 12 Olympic events for the second year running, but this is in ominous contrast to the past three world championships in Olympic years when the team scored nine, five and three golds in Olympic disciplines. There is usually an Olympic “bounce” as the team tend to hold back aerodynamic kit for the Games, but in some disciplines – men’s match sprint and team pursuit in particular – the gap now looks particularly hard to bridge.