Cycling New Zealand have given their support to the decision made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games until what looks likely to be summer 2021 due to the worldwide coronavirus crisis.
The Cycling NZ statement, which was released on Wednesday, read that the nation's athletes and staff were "naturally very disappointed" but that the federation had received support for the decision "as the only fair and sensible action".
Cycling New Zealand CEO Jacques Landry said that coaches and staff heading up the High Performance Unit would be talking with their athletes and other members of staff in the coming days and weeks to answer questions and give advice to help safeguard their health and welfare.
"We are in unprecedented times as a global family, and while naturally we feel for our riders and staff who were beginning final preparations for Tokyo, [we feel] that the postponement was the right and proper action to take," said Landry in the statement.
"Our focus right now is the health and wellbeing of our athletes, staff and their families, as well as the wider cycling community as the world joins together to overcome this pandemic.
"Behind the scenes, Cycling New Zealand has been working on a number of contingency plans and, once we are all safe and healthy again, then no doubt we will be hearing a lot more detail from the Olympic, Paralympic and associated organisations about the pathway forward," said Landry.
