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On the fifth stage, Primoz Roglic took the lead
Photo: Franck Fife / dpa
A wave of colds caused a rarely seen number of illness-related tasks in one day during the traditional long-distance cycle trip Paris-Nice.
18 professionals didn't even show up for the start of the fifth stage on Thursday, 13 of them complained of cold symptoms.
During the stage, another four professionals got out.
According to official information, there were no positive corona cases.
Among the tasks was the German classic car specialist Nils Politt.
The Cologne native from the Bora-hansgrohe team also ended the race prematurely one day after last year's winner Maximilian Schachmann retired.
The Israel-Premier Tech team was only represented by one of the original seven drivers.
The drivers affected by the disease gave different information about their symptoms.
On the hilly section over 188.8 kilometers from Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert to Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut, the overall leader from Belgium, Wout van Aert, lost contact surprisingly early.
So his teammate and top favorite Primoz Roglic took the initiative and took over the leader's yellow jersey.
The American Brandon McNulty won the stage as a soloist.
jan/dpa
