Vegard Stake Laengen and Geoffrey Bouchard are the first riders to leave the Tour de France due to a corona infection. The Norwegian from UAE Team Emirates and the Frenchman from AG2R-Citroën completed a positive test after the seventh stage.
33-year-old Stake Laengen tested negative in an internal test by his team on Friday morning, but developed a sore throat in the evening and subsequently received a positive test result with an antigen test. That result was confirmed on Saturday with a PCR test.
Stake Laengen, who drove long into the flight of the day on Friday, was a major force at UAE Team Emirates. He had to speed up in the flat stages to catch up with a leading group, for example. Due to his departure, the team around Tadej Pogcar still consists of seven riders.
Thirty-year-old Bouchard already felt unfit during the seventh stage to La Planche des Belles Filles and immediately took an antigen test afterwards. It was positive, after which he was isolated from the rest of the team.
“It’s a huge disappointment, because we just got to my favorite terrain, the mountains,” said Bouchard. “It was my first Tour de France and it’s a shame it ends like this.”
First riders to get off because of corona
In the run-up to the Tour de France, the corona virus revived considerably in the peloton. Due to a contamination or high-risk contact, six riders had to cancel their participation in the Tour before the start in Copenhagen.
During the round, no rider dismounted until Stake Laengen and Bouchard due to a corona infection. Nevertheless, there were corona concerns within the teams. For example, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team leaders Wilfried Peters and Klaas Lodewyck had to be replaced on Friday due to an infection.
The Tour de France continues on Saturday with a tough stage from the French town of Dole to Lausanne, Switzerland. The stage has four climbs, two of the third category and two of the fourth category.
Read all about the Tour de France on our special page