The last two stages of the Tour of the United Arab Emirates, which were to be held on Friday and Saturday, were canceled after it was known that two Italian runners are infected with the coronavirus, as announced by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The organization decided to suspend the test and keep the teams locked in the hotel to undergo sanitary controls.

About 7:45 p.m. (4:45 p.m. in Spain), both the participating teams and members of the organization and news media received a note to establish the ban on leaving the hotels. " By order of the authorities of Abu Dhabi, the exit of the people staying in the hotels is prohibited ", a measure that affected all the equipment housed in the Hotel Yas Marina, located next to the speed circuit and the components of the press and organization, located in the Crown Hotel, about 500 meters from the previous one.

The British Chris Froome (Ineos), who had reappeared in this race eight months after a terrible fall in the Criterium Dauphine, has lamented the suspension of the UAE Tour by the coronavirus, but stressed that "the first is public health." "It's a shame the cancellation of the race, but the most important thing is public health. We are all waiting for medical tests and we will remain in the hotel until further notice. I hope the recovery of those affected and that there are no more cases," said the Quad Tour winner.

The director of the test, Mauro Vegni went to the hotel of the cyclists to meet with the directors and discuss the situation. Hence the decision to cancel the second edition of the Tour of the United Arab Emirates, the only one of the World Tour in the Middle East.

According to news from the authorities, all people staying in both hotels must pass sanitary controls to rule out infections , and if so, establish the precise protocol. The race celebrated Thursday the fifth stage with high end, in Jebel Hafeet, with victory of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar. The leader and virtual winner is the Englishman Adam Yates .

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