Frenchman Guillaume Martin was the third professional cyclist to test positive for Corona at the Tour de France. The teammate of Simon Geschke and Max Walscheid has to finish the race, as the Cofidis team and the world association UCI announced.
Martin was 14th overall in a promising position.
“We are not the only team in the situation. You can only do everything possible to protect yourself. I think we did that well. That’s just bad luck,” Walscheid told the German Press Agency before the start the ninth stage and added: “It’s stupid because we all prepare so meticulously and the race is just so big and so hard. It just can’t be changed. Unfortunately, that’s part of it now, we have to deal with it.”
Walscheid expects more cases. After the ninth stage, all drivers will have to undergo the first mandatory corona tests since the start of the tour in Copenhagen. Another corona test follows on the last day of rest. However, many teams test voluntarily in order to detect diseases in good time.
On Saturday morning, the Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen, UAE teammate of Tadej Pogacar, and the Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard from the AG2R team had already tested positive. Before the start of the tour, six professionals had to withdraw due to Corona, after which it had been quiet for a long time in the world’s largest bike race.
In addition to Martin, the Dane Kasper Asgreen also finished the race due to knee problems and the Portuguese Ruben Guerreiro due to illness. However, Guerreiro is not a corona case, as the EF team made clear.