Macron ignores mask requirements
Bizarre corona rules at the Tour de France
7/8/2023 7:01 am
At the Giro d’Italia, the corona virus is spreading in the field of riders. Among other things, it caught the overall leader. The mask requirement will then be reintroduced. It also applies in part to the Tour de France, also under pressure from the top teams. However, the rule sometimes seems paradoxical.
Jonas Vingegaard was not exactly thrilled as Emmanuel Macron closed in on him on the podium. It wasn’t because the leader of the Tour de France disliked the French president. It was more about what Macron was wearing – or not wearing. In the Tour of France, there is still a mask requirement in certain zones, which Macron ignored on his detour.
This is the history: The Giro d’Italia shocked the cycling scene in May. More than ten drivers had to withdraw with a positive corona test before or during the race. When Remco Evenepoel, who was overall leader, was also caught a week later, the organizer reintroduced the obligation to wear masks.
Therefore, masks are compulsory: On the one hand, the organizer ASO is concerned that the tour will lose its stars due to many corona failures and degenerate into a farce. Testing is not mandatory, but many teams still conduct it to protect drivers. The top teams like Jumbo-Vismo therefore put pressure on them not to do without masks even during the tour. Many press conferences take place virtually.
These are the rules: Masks must be worn whenever there is contact with a driver. That’s why you can often see in TV interviews that the person asking the question is wearing a mask. In addition to journalists, other team members and the drivers themselves are required to wear a mask in the so-called paddock – i.e. the bus parking lot at the start and finish.
That is absurd: The paddock is open to the public, spectators are not required to wear a mask. This leads to bizarre scenes in which journalists with masks ask a masked driver questions and autograph hunters stand right next to them without any face masks. The mask requirement is also not controlled by the tour, but most of those affected stick to it.