Türkiye postpones Presidential Cycling Tour due to earthquakes

The 58th Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye has been postponed due to last month's deadly earthquakes.

The country's cycling body confirmed on Twitter that it has decided to postpone the annual cycling contest which was due to be held on April 23-30.

Turkish Cycling Federation President Emin Müftüoğlu said on Saturday that with the support of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), they have moved the Tour of Türkiye to October.

Müftüoğlu added that there will be eight stages in October and famous cyclists will race for eight days from the Mediterranean province of Antalya to Istanbul.

The death toll from powerful earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye last month has risen to 49,589, the country's vice president said on Saturday.

Speaking at a news conference, Fuat Oktay said that 6,807 foreign nationals were also among the dead.

On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elaziğ, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Şanlıurfa.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.