The threat of Covid-19 will weigh until the end of the Tour de France: two positive Covid-19 cases in seven days will result in the exclusion of the team concerned from the race. The measure, which will apply from the start fixed on August 29 in Nice, is drastic if we consider that it concerns not only the runners but also the members of the close management integrated into the "race bubble".
For the twenty-two teams of eight riders, the sword of Damocles will therefore be present until the end of the event, set for September 20 in Paris. The information, revealed by the Velonews site, was confirmed to AFP by the organization of the event (ASO) which specified that the measure was taken in consultation with the AIGCP, the international association which brings together cycling teams.
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The device was presented to the teams, who received a document detailing it, on the eve of the recent Critérium du Dauphiné (August 12 to 16), ASO said. In this Tour under health surveillance, the riders, who are already regularly tested by their teams since the resumption of the courses, must undergo two PCR tests (through the nose) in the days preceding the start.
Repeated PCR tests
"A first wave will be made Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Why over three days? Because there are national championships and the riders are not tested on the day of the race. A second wave of tests will be done Tuesday, Wednesday or next Thursday, again over three days because there are runners participating in the European Championships, "an organization official told AFP.
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During this period, however, a team has the possibility of replacing one of its members who would have been positive for Covid-19, confirmed ASO. After the start of the Tour, a positive case from a runner or a member of the management will automatically lead to the withdrawal of the person concerned. As well as a study of contact cases, the decision resting with the Covid cell which will manage problems of this type during the Tour.
A point will be made daily within the teams and each referring doctor will have to report any problems to the Covid unit, which will assess the degree of seriousness of the case. During the Tour, all members of the "bubble race", riders, management and officials concerned, will have to undergo a PCR test during the two days of rest, the first on September 7 in Charente-Maritime, the second on September 14 in Isère. .
A Covid cell
The principle of exclusion could apply, not only in the hypothesis of proven Covid-19 cases, but also to the presence of strongly suspicious symptoms. In this second eventuality, the decision will depend on a medical opinion. "Exceptionally, a runner may be authorized to take the start in the event of a favorable informed medical opinion from the team doctor and the Covid cell", however, specified the organization of the Tour.
The “race bubble” brings together between 25 and 30 people for each team, ie people in daily contact with the runners. As for the Covid unit, one of the novelties of this Tour unlike any other, it is made up of around fifteen people installed at the Tour de France coordination center, in charge of liaising with the regional health authorities. and the doctors on each team.
For comparison, in French football, the League considers that the virus is "circulating" in a club from the moment a team has "more than 3 players or supervisors (from 4) isolated over 8 rolling days". From four cases, it can decide to postpone the match. Cycling, an itinerant sport with a larger population (176 runners in the peloton), has raised the bar to another height.