This start to the Tour de France is complicated for the AG2R-Team Citroën team.
While Ben O'Connor is experiencing difficulties and is now far in the general classification, Geoffrey Bouchard has to abandon the Grande Boucle.
Suffering during the 7th stage, the French rider underwent an antigen test on his return to the hotel which proved positive.
He was immediately isolated from the rest of the group.
The tests undergone by the other members of the group, riders and management, were negative, specified Dr Serge Niamke, doctor for the French team, adding that "the team carries out antigenic tests every three days in addition to tests organized by the organizer of the Tour de France”.
"It's a big disappointment"
"I didn't feel good during the stage," explained Bouchard, 30, who has won the mountain classification of the Giro and the Vuelta in the past.
It's a big disappointment because I was entering my favorite terrain, the mountains.
It was my first Tour de France and it's sad to end it like this.
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"We have implemented and applied a very strict protocol since the start of the health crisis to guarantee the health of our riders and our management," said team boss Vincent Lavenu.
I'm sad for Geoffrey who we were counting on for the next few days.
The Tour is not over and we hope to find the front of the stage when we arrive in the mountains.
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