Australian cycling team Mitchelton Scott announced Wednesday that it was pulling out of a series of major races including Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo over coronavirus fears.

"We, as team doctors and the wider team, have a duty of care to protect health and wellbeing of all our riders and staff," said the team headed up by the Yates twins, Adam and Simon.

"We will not have any input into, or control over, the measures that race organisers may or may not put in place to manage the COVID-19 risks."

The team will sit out races between March 4-22 in Italy (Strade Bianche, GP Industria, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Trofeo Binda), France (Paris-Nice), Belgium (Nokere) and the Netherlands (Ronde van Drenthe).

"We are a moving, international logistical puzzle, with staff and riders travelling between different countries with different health systems and strategies around COVID-19," the team added.

"Constant travel will increase the health risks and make management of logistics, potential quarantine periods, etc, extremely difficult."