It will be a Tour de France like no other.
The annual race, which is seen on television through millions of people around the world, is deeply rooted in French culture as it makes its way through stunning landscapes and dizzying mountains, as well as picturesque towns before ending up on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
The tour is positioned in July, but the global pandemic put an end to this idea, hence the beginning of August 29. The pandemic and a recent uptick in new infections in France have also left organizers with a real logistical challenge to organize the 23-Race Day as productive as possible.
In addition to the considerations of the organizers, the Region of the Maritime Alps, from the early stages of the race, has been declared a red zone due to a recent accumulation of Covid-19 cases.
In red areas, the government can make the mask mandatory outdoors and close the bar. But with the French government in a position for the worst-case scenarios with local or national lockout plans implemented, questions arise about whether the Tour will succeed in Paris.
“The Tour de France will avoid a positive case, even if no one knows if it will be finished or Array,” International Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient told Reuters.
To make sure the race is over, the groups will be kicked off the 2020 occasion if at least two runners either have significant symptoms or test positive for Covid-19.
Documents received through the VeloNews cyclist, which were shown to CNN as accurate through the amaury Sports Organization (ASO) race organizer, imply that team members will have to pass two coronavirus tests before they can enter the mandatory 3-day “bubble”. before the start of Saturday. Nice.
“If two or more people on the same team have very suspicious symptoms or have tested positive for Covid-19, the team will be expelled from the Tour de France,” the document says.
“Your riders will not be allowed to start the Tour de France (or the next stage) and the team will be stripped of their accreditation.”
All team members will be evaluated during the tour’s two-day rest, September 7 and 14, but team doctors and race medical staff will also make a decision about whether a runner with milder symptoms can participate in a stage.
There will also be a Covid-19 cellular installation at each level for further testing if needed. The testing procedure is costly for the groups: Groupama-FDJ doctor Jacky Maillot told Reuters that he had charged the team $154,000 (130,000 euros) for the season.
Due to the hectic nature of the cycling calendar, cyclists and team members were controlled before competing in the pre-Tour races, adding the Criterium du Dauphine, which ended two weeks ago and was used as a control event.
Although the groups are not limited to a safe radius, as they are in the NBA Disney bubble, and there is a detail involved, the ASO has taken strict steps to ensure the protection of the Tour bubble.
“There are no other visitors to our team’s hotel, there are one or two more groups here,” a spokesman for South African team NTT Pro Cycling told CNN Sport.
“Any mask is mandatory, of course, disinfectants are widely available and I believe that from the team’s point of view, our leading medical officers are constantly in communication with all team members, as well as with the organizers and the corresponding fitness authorities. .
“Food preparation and all this happens on site, so we checked to minimize exposure points, but our game requires us to be on the road and not in a stadium you can close. So, I guess for everyone, there’s a risk.
“Clearly this is not general in the way we revel in the race, however, I think the sensible thing is that we feel quite satisfied and comfortable.”
The Tour may have the merit of being organized outdoors, but negotiating 3470 kilometers remains a delicate proposition.
“Organizers have been very specific around what departure villages will look like, what the paddock will look like, who has access to those, the different requirements for those people that do have access to have been tested, and how that that environment kind of moves through the countryside,” the NTT Pro Cycling spokesperson said.
“So it’s from the beginning, the race to the end and then to the hotel. For all purposes, this bubble will be maintained and those rules will be issued through the organizers. We are quite happy with what they have implemented. . »
The tour’s director, Christian Prudhomme, said he was pleased with the way the game had adapted to the new preventive regulations.
“So far, cycling has run into obstacles,” he told Reuters. “There will be cops on the climbs, who will clear the crowd and make sure that enthusiasts wear mask because I am convinced that the entire local government will make it mandatory.”
A great component of the tour’s charm lies in its accessibility for fans, who can travel the roads through thousands at other stages to inspire cyclists.
This, of course, makes it much more difficult for organizers to make the race a “closed door” opportunity and a specific fear given the recent increase in Covid-19 cases.
“For example, there will be an opportunity to sign autographs or get selfies, that sort of thing and I think those are not unusual measures of meaning and the organizers have also made it clear that the routes are pretty well closed and picked up,” he said. NTT Pro Cycling spokesman.
“Access to spaces where topics were pinched on the climbs and spaces where fans met was restricted and many measures were put in position.
“So I think we’re very comfortable for everything to position itself and it’s because of the game that the race is positioned and positioned safely. I think we all recognize that point.
Entering the top tier on Saturday, protective champion Egan Bernal is the regular favorite to win the famous yellow jersey with Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic.
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