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Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has confirmed that entire teams will be excluded from the race if two members of their riders or staff test positive for COVID-19 within the same seven-day period.
The ‘two strike, team out rule’ was confirmed last week, but the UCI softened it on Friday to cover only positive cases among riders after a series of meetings between teams, the UCI and ASO in preparation for the Tour. . .
However, in response to rising levels of contagion in France, the French government’s coronavirus pandemic task force interceded late on Friday and the original wording of the ruling was restored.
It means teams will be excluded from the Tour if two members of their 30-runner and staff ‘bubble’ test positive for COVID-19 within seven days.
“We continue with two cases out of 30 people on the same team over a seven-day period,” Prudhomme said. AFP on Saturday, adding that the decision “had been made by the inter-ministerial crisis unit.”
The news came hours before the 2020 Tour started in Nice and two days after Lotto Soudal staff members were fouled by COVID-19 in the final pre-race PCR tests. The Belgian team said that one member of staff was positive, while the other was “not negative”. It is not clear if the second supplementary test had confirmed the non-negative case.
Lotto Soudal sent the two staff members and their roommates home after the race, but they believe they can start the Tour de France.
Ciclismonews He has contacted the UCI to request clarification on the status of Lotto Soudal in the 2020 Tour.
A ‘team bubble’ on the 2020 Tour can have up to 30 people in total, made up of riders and staff. All members of the bubble must be free of COVID-19 symptoms and must follow a series of protocols including avoiding interactions with the public, wearing masks and washing their hands.
Riders had to return two negative PCR tests to compete in the 2020 Tour. Riders and staff will also be tested on the Tour’s two rest days (September 7 and 14), while members of the Tour bubble a team must also complete a health questionnaire every day.
Following concerns about false positives for COVID-19, the UCI confirmed on Friday that any positive cases will need to be verified by secondary testing whenever possible, before the race organizer can announce the withdrawal of a full team.
France on Friday reported a new post-lock high of 7,379 new COVID-19 cases. The highest daily total during the country’s lockdown period was 7,578 on March 31. French President Emanuel Macron previously rejected the idea of a second lockdown, but did not rule it out on Friday as the number of cases mounted.
“We will do everything possible to prevent it, but this virus continues to surprise us,” Macron said.
The Grand Départ in Nice will take place on Saturday before a small audience, as the Alpes-Maritimes department has been classified as a COVID-19 red zone.
