Fernando Gaviria returned to Colombia this Wednesday from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he was hospitalized for several weeks for coronavirus and on March 26 he was discharged from the hospital, after the latest tests that he did for COVID-19 were negative .

The Colombian sprinter was already with his team, the UAE Team Emirates precisely, before February 21 in the country. That was the day that the UAE Tour began, proof of the World Tour. More than 50 days later, Gaviria has been able to leave the country.

The return of Gaviria was confirmed by the Colombian Cycling Federation in a statement detailing that the cyclist arrived in Bogotá along with 55 more returnees on a plane with 13 tons of medical material donated by the United Arab Emirates to deal with the pandemic. "These 56 compatriots, all have negative evidence for COVID-19 and are not deported," said the director of Colombian Migration, Juan Francisco Espinosa, in a video released by his office.

The official specified that the flight was only approached by Colombians whose tests for coronaviruses were negative and that, once they landed in Bogotá, they were assessed by the health authorities and transferred to places that previously reported to the Government.

In that sense, Gaviria, winner in 2018 of two stages of the Tour de France and in 2017 of four in the Giro d'Italia, will quarantine in Bogotá and, according to the Colombian Cycling Federation, hopes "for his transfer to the department from Antioquia (from which he is a native) to reunite with his family. "

On March 26, the 25-year-old cyclist said: "The last tests they have done have been negative and the doctors have discharged me from the hospital. I am now focused on being able to go home and meet with my family."

On March 3, the health authorities of the United Arab Emirates reported the existence of six new cases of coronavirus -two Russians, two Italians, one German and one Colombian-, in the squad of the Cycling Tour of that country, canceled one week before.

Nine days later Gaviria confirmed that he tested positive for coronavirus in the United Arab Emirates and then claimed that he was "in good" health.

Both the participating teams and members of the organization and journalists were quarantined at their hotels for several days.

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