Frenchmen Aurélien Paray-Pentre and Mikael Cherel, both of Citroën’s AG2R, were identified on Tuesday as two cyclists who tested positive in COVID-19 screening tests conducted on Sunday at the Tour de France, pulling out of the race.
“Weekly coronavirus tests conducted by the tour organizers showed a positive result for Mika and Aurélien. They won’t line up today. [terça-feira]. Other riders and “staff” have tested negative and continue to race,” the French team said on its Twitter account.
The International Cycling Union said on Monday that two cyclists tested positive in Covid-19 screening tests conducted on Sunday, explaining that the two 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 general classification of the race,” the international federation said in a statement, without naming specific cyclists.
Aurélien Pare-Pentre, 26, is participating in the Tour for the second time, in which he is 24th overall, almost an hour behind yellow jersey Jonas Wingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) after finishing last year. 15th place in the final ranking.
Scherel, 36, has already competed for the seventh time in the Grande Boucle tournament, in which he has a best result of 18th in 2015.
The two Frenchmen from AG2R Citroën join their companion Geoffroy Bouchard, the first positive case in the 109th edition, in the list of “affected” by covid-19, compatriots Warren Bargil (Arkea Samsik) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), a Dane. Magnus Court (EF Education-EasyPost), Australians Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco), Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen and New Zealander George Bennett, both from the Emirates of the UAE.
The peloton of the 109th Tour de France returns to the track on Tuesday after completing its third and final day of rest to spend the first of three days in the Pyrenees.
Stage 16, a 178.5-kilometer link between Carcassonne and Foix, does not have a high finish but two first-class countdowns, the last of which is less than 30 kilometers from the finish line.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
