The International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour circuit has largely been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused numerous postponements.

The UCI announced last week that no events on the international road calendar will take place until the end of April.

A total of 17 races on the men's UCI WorldTour circuit have been postponed, while both the UAE Tour and Paris-Nice concluded early due to the outbreak.

The WorldTour is provisionally set to resume with the Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse, which begin in May and June.

The races build-up to the Tour de France, which is scheduled for June 27 to July 19.

Lefevere, writing in a column for Het Nieuwsblad, claimed cancellation of the three-week Grand Tour would have damaging consequences for cycling teams due to their sponsors relying on exposure at the marquee race.

“We are talking about a total disaster,” Lefevere wrote.

“But it would be downright stupid not to take this into account.

“My maxim is to always start from a best-case and a worst-case. In the first case we race again in June, in the worst case, the season is over.

“I may be a pessimist, but who would have dared to predict three weeks ago that half of Europe would suddenly be under house arrest?

“Organiser ASO can take a beating, the teams can't.

“If there is no Tour de France, the whole model of cycling can collapse.”

The UCI said earlier this week it had agreed principles around postponed events.

Priority in the men's calendar will also be given, depending on space available and the possibility of overlapping, to the three Grand Tour events and cycling's monument races.

The year's first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, has already been postponed from its planned start date of May 9 in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

The UCI said it hoped their decision would help to guarantee visibility of the sport and ensure the best exposure for the most-watched races.

The governing body added the men's and women's road season could be extended until November 1, while flexibility could be given to the number of riders entered by teams at races.

Lefevere referenced his own team Deceuninck-QuickStep, who are typically the dominant force during the Classics season.

“I realise that in that big story, cycling is just a footnote, but I'm a cycling team manager, so I'm also worried," he wrote.

“All companies that export see their turnover drop.

“And then savings are quickly made on marketing.

“It would be naive to think that the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis does not translate to cycling.”