The Tour de France riders have passed a covid detection test which gave a negative result for the whole peloton, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Monday.
The tests were carried out on Sunday evening before the riders observed a rest day in Haute-Savoie.
Three runners have had to leave the race since the start in Denmark, after having tested positive for covid.
The French Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën) and the Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE), a teammate of the Slovenian yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar, left Saturday morning before the start of the 8th stage. The Frenchman Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) imitated them the next morning.
“All the riders participating in the Tour de France were tested on the evening of July 10. All the tests were negative,” the UCI made official on Monday morning.
But, insisted the international federation, “the rules put in place for two years in the interest of everyone’s health and safety continue to apply. These include the obligation to wear a mask, to maintain sufficient physical distance and to disinfect your hands frequently”.
– Guillaume Martin critic –
In addition to the riders, the members of the management of the 22 teams must undergo a test on the occasion of this day of rest.
The new wave of covid, which particularly affects France, has already caused departures in the management of several teams, both in staff and in group management. The Quick-Step team alone has had to call on three new sports directors since the start of the Tour.
Before the start in Copenhagen, half a dozen riders were replaced within their respective formations.
Following the cascade of abandonments recorded at the Tour de Suisse in mid-June, the anti-covid protocol was updated before the start of the Tour by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The tests are compulsory before the start and during the two rest days of the event in Morzine and Carcassonne, riders and team personnel included.
In the event of a positive result, the protocol provides that “the decision on possible isolation will be taken collectively by the doctor of the team concerned, the Covid-19 doctor for the event and the medical director of the UCI”.
In an interview with the newspaper L’Equipe, Guillaume Martin, who felt in good shape, criticized this point of the UCI protocol and wondered about the definition of the criteria used to reach a decision: “It’s a big soft focus and that’s where I got it wrong. I had stuck with the idea that the protocol had been laid out so that a positive but asymptomatic runner could continue. I thought I would fit into this box .”
But, acknowledged the Norman runner, his last PCR test “revealed a fairly low R rate, so my contagiousness was quite high”.
