The Frenchman will take part well at the start of the Tour de France after recovering from a positive Covid test in the wake of the Tour de Suisse.
A big sigh of relief for cycling fans supporting Thibaut Pinot. The Frenchman will be present on Friday at the start of the Tour de France in Denmark. The Groupama FDJ team confirmed the participation of its leader who is recovering from a positive test which occurred just after the Tour de Suisse where he had distinguished himself, with a mountain victory in the seventh stage. His teammate Stefan Küng, a time trial specialist, also contracted the virus. Like Pinot, it is deemed fit to race.
The two men figured well in the list of riders selected for the Grande Boucle by the leaders on June 22, when their positive results had not been revealed to the public. David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas, Olivier Le Gac, Michael Storer, Kevin Geniets and Antoine Duchesne will accompany the Frenchman and his Swiss teammate.
The upsurge in Covid cases among professional runners and a spike in positive cases observed during the recent Tour de Suisse is causing trouble in the composition of the formations. Habs Florian Sénéchal took advantage of Tim Declercq’s positive test at Quick-Step to be called up on Monday. The Swiss Marc Hirschi joined the team of Tadej Pogacar (UAE) this Wednesday, in place of the Italian Matteo Trentin, for the same reason.
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The health protocol relaxed by the UCI
The increase in the number of cases prompted the International Cycling Union to relax the health protocol applied to the Tour de France. Riders must present a negative antigen test 48 hours before the start of the Tour de France to start the race. Asymptomatic athletes will however be able to continue the race, but on condition of receiving the approval of a committee of three doctors ruling on their state of health. They were automatically excluded from the test for the past two years with a positive test.
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