Jumbo team leader Zeeman tests positive for Tour start, more corona cases in peloton cycling

For the Tour, which starts in Copenhagen on Friday, Zeeman took the team to Tignes for an altitude internship. So the question is whether others will follow, and not just within Jumbo. Many riders traveled by plane to Denmark with many other passengers on board who were not wearing masks.

After the Tour of Switzerland, where about half the peloton went home due to an infection, Zeeman said that fear increased towards the Tour. “Here in the group, I also notice that everyone is shocked by the coronavirus that is raging around again,” he said at the time.

“I think it worries all teams, especially because you see the corona figures increasing significantly throughout Europe. Fortunately, hospital admissions remain limited, so that society is in any case not completely disrupted again. In recent months, sometimes there has been no testing for a week during the competitions, but now that that is happening, you see more cases. And in the Tour de France there will also be a test moment for everyone on all rest days.”

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Zeeman announced on social media that he hopes to rejoin the team soon. In principle, he is welcome again when Zeeman tests negative.

Participation in Tour uncertain for Jungels after corona test

It is uncertain whether Bob Jungels will start on Friday in the Tour de France. The Luxembourg cyclist of AG2R tested ‘slightly positive’ in a corona test on Wednesday. Jungels will undergo a new test on Thursday and it should make it clear whether he can participate in the Tour.

If Jungels tests positive, the Belgian Greg Van Avermaet will be his replacement. Last week, 37-year-old Van Avermaet was disappointed to hear that he had not been included in the selection for the Tour de France. From 2014 he participated continuously in the Tour.

Israeli cyclist Omer Goldstein of Israel-Premier Tech also tested positive for corona and is not participating in the Tour, just like Italian Samuele Battistella of Astana.

Hirschi replaces corona-infected Trentin in Tour

UAE Team Emirates has had to withdraw Matteo Trentin from the Tour de France. The Italian has contracted a corona infection, the team reported on Wednesday, two days before the start of the Tour in Copenhagen. Swiss Marc Hirschi has been called up as a replacement.

Trentin is feeling good and according to the team of Slovenian leader and Tour favorite Tadej Pogacar, he has no symptoms of Covid-19. He is the second rider to be removed from the start list due to corona shortly before the Tour. Earlier, the Belgian Tim Declercq disappeared from the Tour team of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.

Goldstein misses Tour after close contact with someone with coronavirus

Canadian cyclist Guillaume Boivin replaces Omer Goldstein in Israel-Premier Tech’s Tour selection. The Israeli cyclist has been dropped from the squad after being in close contact with a person infected with corona. The team also reported that sporting manager Rik Verbrugghe had tested positive for the corona virus.

Verbrugghe took the positive test while on his way to Copenhagen, where he would join the squad of, among others, the Dane Jakob Fuglsang, the Canadian Michael Woods and the British four-time Tour winner Chris Froome. He is now going home and will return to the squad as soon as it is safe to do so.

Daryl Impey from the same team had also been in close contact with a person who tested positive at the beginning of this week. The South African has also not yet reported in the team bubble and is also missing during the team presentation in Copenhagen on Wednesday evening. The team will only decide on Thursday whether he can join and start on Friday in the opening time trial of the Tour de France.

Astana has replaced Samuele Battistella in the Tour selection. The Italian has tested positive for the corona virus. In his place, the Belarus Aleksandr Riabushenko will start in Copenhagen on Friday.