WHEN Mark Renshaw says the Tour de France is the "heart and soul of professional cycling" you know it is a statement he believes to his very core.
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You also know it is an opinion that those who have ever been in, and those who still form part of, the professional road cycling peloton share too.
It is one of the reasons why Bathurst talent Renshaw, who started in the Tour de France 10 times before retiring from professional racing last year, feels it still has a chance of going ahead in 2020.
Like almost all sports across the globe, cycling is currently in shutdown due to the coronavirus.
The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) announced on Wednesday that the 2020 Tour de France had been rescheduled from its June 27 to July 19 time slot to August 29-September 20.
There is still plenty of doubt whether it will be able to go ahead then given France has reported more than 15,000 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began.
There is also doubt over the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) and Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy).
"There's a lot of rumours floating around with what's going to happen, the UCI obviously want all three Grand Tours to have some place in the calendar for the year, the Tour [de France] being the number one objective," Renshaw said.
"Teams want to race, the French Government want the race to go ahead and the UCI want the race because it is basically the heart and soul of professional cycling.
"Some races might be cut down days, the Giro and the Vuelta may end up being a little bit shorter races, but I think everyone is really keen to for the Tour [de France] to go ahead."
The Tour de France was first staged in July 1903, and since then it has evolved to become a 23-day, 21-stage event watched by millions across the globe.
It is an event professionals make their priority each season - certainly it is something Renshaw did in his almost two decades at the elite road level.
While the route features plenty of gruelling climbs and always tests the physical limits and mental toughness of riders, the uncertainty currently surrounding the event poses another challenge.
"It's a little bit like the Olympics, I read some stats about that which said 70 percent of athletes only get to attend one Olympic Games," Renshaw said.
"Every race and every day of racing is something you've missed, I'd imagine most pro riders now are itching to get outside, but I don't see them coming back anytime soon.
"The whole season revolves around the tour, there are guys who race most of the year with just the tour as an objective and everything is working towards that.
"To have the number one goal up in limbo and have no set date makes it pretty hard for guys, not to be motivated, but I suppose have a plan in place of where they're going and what they're training for."
Tour director Christian Prudhomme has made it clear his objective is to see the race go ahead.
He concedes that may have to be with social distancing measures in place and possibly banning spectators from being at the start and finish line, but he insists it will not be a "'behind closed doors" event if it does go ahead.
"In the words 'Tour de France', the most important one is 'France'. It's the health situation of the country that counts. There's only one thing that I want, and that's that the Tour de France takes place this summer," he said.
"That's not for the Tour de France's sake; more that if it doesn't take place, it'll mean that the country is in a catastrophic situation, which we really hope isn't the case."
Renshaw said the crowd is an essential element of the Tour de France, adding to the atmosphere but also making it attractive to sponsors and vital to the financial stability of teams.
"That's the funding model behind teams, to get that promotion in the Tour de France, and it's that live atmosphere that makes it so popular," he said.
"If they can't have crowds, I don't think they'll run it."
However, Renshaw also pointed out that the huge number of spectators the Tour de France attracts, plus the logistics involved in the event, could work against it.
"The scariest thing is just how many people you come in contact with in cycling. You are travelling all the time to races, you are in hotels all the time and then you throw in the fans," he said.
"It's one of the sports where you can get up close with riders before and after a race, so there's a lot of ability there to come in contact with a lot of people and I think that's the really scary part for riders."
As for Renshaw personally, he looks back at his record of 10 starts in the Tour de France with pride.
His first start came in 2008 when riding for Credit Agricole and six of his appearances were in consecutive years between 2012-2018.
He helped set up a number of stage wins - most of them for lead sprinter and good friend Mark Cavendish - while Renshaw also played an integral role in seeing Cavendish win the green jersey and spend time in the maillot jaune.
"Ten times in the tour, looking back there's some pretty good stats if you take away the two years where I had some injuries and problems and I missed out," he said.
"I was pretty happy to get 10 starts in it, it's definitely a highlight doing the tour each year and working towards that race."
Renshaw had planned to attend this year's Tour de France and work for NTT Global, but that is on hold.
At the moment he is enjoying spending time with his family
"I'm busier than ever, it's different not having objectives and schedules and pressure to perform," he said.
"I am really just enjoying being at home with Kristina and the kids and enjoying doing things at home, working on things I never got to do. At the moment we're still trying to finish some projects around the house."
