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Corona is back in cycling (nd-aktuell.de)

After a negative test, Maximilian Schachmann will start in the individual time trial of the tour on Friday.

Foto: imago/frontalvision

A new wave of corona cases has hit professional cycling in the past two weeks. Dozens of drivers had to leave the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Slovenia early. Riders scheduled for the Tour de France were also among them. Most of them seem fit again. The German team Bora-hansgrohe, for example, nominated Maximilian Schachmann and Alexander Vlasow, who had recently tested negative, for the Tour of France that begins on Friday.

Former world champion Peter Sagan is also back on tour after his third Covid infection. The Slovak recently won the national championship. ‘The last few years have been rather gloomy for me. Between the second and third infection, I had hardly been able to race for three months,” said the seven-time green jersey winner. “But now I’m fine and I hope to be able to improve even more towards the Tour.”

So the first major danger seems to have been averted. After the sources of infection in the preparatory races, a wave of cancellations for the Tour de France was feared. So far, at least the big stars have not been affected. So far there has been no positive news from defending champion Tadej Pogačar or from the two big challengers Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard. Although individual teammates were affected, the isolation apparently worked within the team.

This is also key for the upcoming Tour de France. It is being tested more frequently than in recent weeks. This is currently still happening at the own decision of the battered teams. However, there are also general indications of a new regulation. “As part of the UCI medical commission, we are thinking about having more severe tests,” says Matthias Baumann to “nd”. The German association doctor is president of the medical commission of the world association UCI. It is said that a binding regulation should come out this week, in good time before the start of the Tour de France. So far, only one PCR test before the start and tests on the rest days are planned. This frequency should increase.

The tour organizers from Aso have not yet commented on this. However, access for fans and the media to the teams is likely to be more strictly regulated than in recent weeks. The barriers in the interview areas were largely abolished, at least at the finish, journalists could talk to the professionals directly and without prior notice.

The fans also enjoyed the closeness, were given drinking bottles and autographs again. Tour winner Pogačar even stopped in the middle of the race in the first days of the Tour of Slovenia and chatted happily with the fans. “We won’t do that anymore,” he said after the many positive cases. And his team doctor Inigo San Millan called for the old, strict hygiene regulations at the Tour in tweets that were later deleted: “With the current lax attitude towards Covid, the Tour de France can become complete chaos, with important teams leaving the race. Le Tour, please go back to the bubbles.« San Millan suggested cutting off contact with the fans again and completely avoiding risky situations such as shaking hands or touching doorknobs and elevator buttons.

However, this scenario of complete isolation also provokes contradictions in the scene. “It’s not good for the sport as a whole. The Tour de France thrives on the special atmosphere,” warned Ralph Denk, manager of Bora-hansgrohe, to “nd”. “If that isn’t there, if cycling only becomes a TV sport, the fans won’t be there in the long run. And sponsors could also lose interest.« It is therefore a balancing act between protection against infections and the risk of reducing the appeal of free and outdoor sports through excessive isolation.

The team doctors are currently dealing with a problem of similar explosiveness. They must decide which of the recently ill riders are fit enough for the rigor of the three-week tour. “The big risk with Covid is the heart muscle inflammation,” says Baumann, the association doctor, pointing out the long-term effects of an infection. »When a maximum endurance effort is possible again has to be decided individually. It depends on the course of the disease, the severity of the symptoms and the overall condition of the athlete,” Baumann tells “nd”.

A rule of thumb is that you don’t get on your bike for at least a week and give yourself two weeks for the next race. For those who left the Tour de Suisse with positive tests, there was less time between the negative report and the start of the tour. It is only to be hoped that the medical ethos is appropriately incorporated into the team’s internal decision-making processes. Top performers who cannot perform optimally in the first week with stages where the wind can cause additional difficulties, but then endanger themselves through overexertion, should not have a place on the tour – bitter as it is individually may be.

The peloton at this year’s Tour de France is therefore exposed to a double threat: the risk that frequent tests will also take asymptomatically ill people out of the race, thereby reducing the number of participants, and the risk of causing damage to health if they start too early.

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