The Track World Championships scheduled for China in July will be moved elsewhere because of the Sars outbreak.

The International Cycling Union yesterday confirmed the statement made earlier by its Australian vice-president, Ray Godkin. The event had been planned for the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from 30 July to 3 August.

The UCI said the event would now take place in Europe but that the exact location would be announced in two weeks. It said it had received a number of "spontaneous candidatures" in recent days.

Manchester and Bordeaux are the main contenders to replace China as host. Australia was the first country to offer to hold the rescheduled championships, which Godkin said would now take place in August.

The decision to move the championships from China comes after Australia and France earlier this week refused to send teams to Shenzhen, in the Guangdong province where Sars is believed to have originated. Other teams, including Spain and the Netherlands, also expressed reservations about travelling to China.

The UCI said it appreciated the work done by the organisers in Shenzhen.

"The Track World Championships will most certainly take place in China before the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing, probably in 2007," a spokesman added.