Although it may not seem so right now, there was a time not too long ago when the word coronavirus sounded strange, something that in Spain caught us far away and hardly occupied any isolated page in the newspapers. In the case of the Sports sections, the Covid-19 took center stage with the cancellation of the UAE Tour , a stage test of the first division of world cycling that takes place every year in the United Arab Emirates. Curiously, today is exactly one month after that milestone that unknowingly anticipated that world sport was about to stop like never before in history.

Two positives from UAE Team auxiliaries lit the wick and forced the authorities to suspend the test when there were still two stages to be disputed. Teams, organizers and journalists were placed in preventive quarantine in their hotel rooms for several days before the threat of contagion. Little by little, drop by drop, they all left Abu Dhabi for their countries of origin. This Friday the last one did it: Fernando Gaviria .

The Colombian cyclist himself has announced it on his social networks. "The last tests that have been carried out have been negative and the doctors have discharged me from the hospital. I am now focused on being able to return home and meet with mine, " explained the sprinter, winner of two stages of the Tour de France and five from the Giro d'Italia. Two days ago, it was his partner and pitcher Maximiliano Richeze who also received the go-ahead to leave Abu Dhabi for his country, Argentina.

In total, Gaviria has been affected by the coronavirus for a month . The first days, in preventive quarantine for the positive of two assistants from his team. Subsequently, tests were carried out that showed that he was also infected, so he was admitted to an Emirati hospital. The organization reported on March 3 six new positives, without revealing who they were, although explaining that one of them was Colombian. The cyclist himself, however, confirmed days later that he was in good condition. After undergoing a test every 48 hours, he has finally tested negative and, a month later, has been able to return home.

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  • Coronavirus
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