Two cyclists tested positive for Covid-19 screening tests conducted at the Tour de France on Sunday, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) said on Monday, explaining that the two unidentified cases require “additional biological evaluation”.
“All riders participating in the Tour de France were tested on the night of July 17, the eve of the weekend. All tests were negative, with the exception of two riders, who require additional biological evaluation. the riders in question are not in the “top 20″ of the race’s general classification,” the international federation said in a statement.
The UCI clarifies that despite the two cyclists being “completely symptom-free, security measures (isolation of both) have been put in place to protect the other participants” at the French event.
“The final decision on whether both will participate in the remainder of the race will be made tomorrow morning. [terça-feira] collegially involved parties (covid-19 event doctor, team doctors and UCI medical director),” the note states.
The UCI has already authorized Poland’s Rafal Majka, a colleague of reigning two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogacar, to continue racing despite testing positive for COVID-19 as he poses a “very low risk of infection”.
Conversely, the international federation removed Frenchman Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) by a decision “taken collectively by the team doctor, the covid-19 race doctor and the medical director of the UCI, based on the available clinical elements.”
The news of the two positive cases comes a day after Danish cyclist Magnus Court (EF Education-EasyPost), stage 10 winner and one of the protagonists of the 109th Tour de France, and Australian Simon Clarke (Israel, premier Minister of Tech), the winner of the fifth round, who abandoned the tour due to infection with the coronavirus.
Cort and Clark joined Frenchmen Warren Bargil (Arkéa Samsic), Geoffroy Bouchard (AG2R Citroën) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen and New Zealander George Bennett on the list of “victims” of covid-19. Emirates UAE and Australian Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco).
In the first battery of tests for covid-19, conducted on July 10, on the eve of the second day of rest, there were no positive results.
The 109th Tour de France, led by Dane Jonas Wingegaard (Jambo-Visma), kicked off on July 1 in Copenhagen, Denmark and will end on July 24 in Paris.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
