The 109th Tour de France threatens to become a corona lottery.
Shortly after his driver Yves Lampaert’s victory in the opening time trial in Copenhagen on Friday, Tom Steels, sporting director of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team, had to leave due to a positive test.
Within the team there were seven corona cases within a week.
It was initially not known whether professionals in the team were endangered as direct contacts.
For the second stage on Saturday, which Lampaert contested in the yellow jersey, the former world-class sprinter Steels was replaced by the Italian Davide Bramati.
Corona-positive professional is allowed to start
While several drivers from different teams who tested positive had to be replaced shortly before the start of the tour, the Luxembourgish professional Bob Jungels was allowed to start the tour despite two positive tests.
The medical commission of the world association UCI and the tour organizers, in consultation with the team doctor, certified that the driver of the AG2R Citröen team had a low viral load and classified him as not contagious.
Relaxation of the Corona rules
This was in line with the Corona rules, which were relaxed by the tour organizers shortly before the start of the Tour of France.
A positive corona finding therefore no longer necessarily means the exclusion of a driver, the affected professional is examined for his viral load.
In addition, the rule that the entire team was excluded if there were two positive corona cases was no longer applicable.