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EFE | HOMELAND
The Government authorized 50 cyclists, including Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana, to train on the road from next week so that they can prepare for the international races that will take place in the second semester such as the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Spain.
“Protocols have been designed so that they can regain their ability to train. It is a very limited group, we are talking about 50 athletes, approximately, who are preparing for these great competitions,” said Colombian President Iván Duque during the daily program in which he talks about government measures to face the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the benefited cyclists are, in addition to Bernal (Ineos) and Quintana (Arkea Samsic), Rigoberto Urán (Education First), Miguel Ángel ‘Supermán’ López (Astana) and Sergio Higuita (UAE Emirates).
Duque assured that the example of these athletes will be used as an object of study by the Government so that these protocols are eventually applied to other disciplines.
In this regard, the Minister of Sport, Ernesto Lucena, appreciated the return of cyclists to the roads and considered it a priority, while saying that they will return to the streets “with a lot of pedagogy and a lot of responsibility.”
The International Cycling Union (UCI) established a World Tour with 25 races from August 1.
Among the 25 competitions there are 17 one-day races, including the five Monuments (Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia), plus eight stage races, including the big three.
On the other hand, Minister Lucena assured that the Government foresees that in June sportsmen who practice 16 disciplines, including cycling, will return to training sessions, whose federations gave the authorities a protocol to restart activities and that are considered by the authorities “low risk”.
“We will be analyzing the low-risk, which can resume individual training, where those athletes can resume their activities,” said the minister.
