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Covid-19

The new protocol published on Tuesday by the International Cycling Union (UCI) takes into account the evolution of the health situation, namely the increase in the number of positive cases recently declared.

It aims to "strengthen the medical surveillance of the peloton" and those around it but takes into account, with pragmatism, case by case.

Flagship measure, an asymptomatic runner will not be automatically forced to retire, contrary to what has happened in recent weeks, particularly at the Tour de Suisse.

"The decision on possible isolation will be taken collectively by the doctor of the team concerned, the Covid-19 doctor of the event and the medical director of the UCI, on the basis of the clinical elements available", provides the new regulations, drawn up by a steering group placed under the responsibility of the UCI medical director, Professor Xavier Bigard, and made up of representatives of riders, teams, team doctors and organisers.

Civil Protection agents prepare the tests against the Covid in the arrival area of ​​the 16th stage of the last Tour de France in Saint-Gaudens, July 13, 2021 Philippe LOPEZ AFP / Archives

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Doping

The searches carried out on Monday in several European countries targeting riders and managers of the Bahrain team bring the subject up to date.

Almost a quarter of a century after the Festina affair and twelve years after Lance Armstrong's last participation in the Tour de France, cycling cannot lower its guard in the face of what has long been - and by far - its number one problem. a.

"Keep the light on", the expression of Roger Legeay, the president of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), remains relevant.

Thirteen of the twenty-two teams in the running are also members of this Movement, which wants to be at the forefront of the fight against doping and sets stricter rules than the regulations in force.

"We are under an obligation to be whiter than white", recalled at the start of the year the director of the UCI, Amina Lanaya, in a sensational interview with Ouest-France which insisted, beyond the tests, on investigations and opened the debate on the possibility of remunerating indicators.

The American Lance Armstrong, yellow jersey subsequently stripped of his titles for doping, narrowly avoids Joseba Beloki (Once) during the Tour de France near Gap, July 14, 2003 JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

Cycling has delegated the operational services of the fight against doping to the ITA (International Testing Agency), an independent agency dealing with different sports.

"They are professionals, they know how to obtain information. But we, on our side, do not want to let go either, so we tell them what is happening to us", explained the director of the UCI, convinced of the need to favor "intelligence, investigation, rapprochement with the police authorities".

Without abandoning, of course, the traditional controls: "Testing is a useful means but on the basis of reliable information gleaned upstream."

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Weather

Heat waves (often), hail (rarely), snow (exceptionally).

The Tour is faced with weather risks which complicate the lives of the riders and sometimes immobilize them.

"In the history of the Tour de France, only one stage had to be interrupted because of the weather: Tignes, July 26, 2019", recalls the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme when he is questioned on the subject.

That day, a violent hailstorm followed by a landslide made the road impassable 20 kilometers from the scheduled finish in Tignes.

The times had been taken when crossing the Col de l'Iseran.

"We are well aware that sudden weather episodes, whether hailstorms or heat, happen more often today, continues Christian Prudhomme. We had seen it with a very violent hailstorm in the arrival in the Principality of Andorra (Arcalis) in 2016, at the Col de Porte au Dauphiné 2020."

Fans witness the passage of cyclists during the 19th stage of the Tour de France a few kilometers from Tignes, July 26, 2019 JEFF PACHOUD AFP / Archives

What to do with this kind of episode?

“We have to adapt once again”, replies the director of the Tour even if “a cycling race does not move by snapping its fingers, the organization of the Tour in the itinerancy is very heavy”.

In the event of a heat wave, a so-called "extreme conditions" commission, with representatives of the various parties concerned (teams, riders, organisers, UCI), meets before the start of the stage.

But, emphasizes Christian Prudhomme, "we cannot decide in advance, these are decisions that are made in the moment depending on the race situations".

© 2022 AFP