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Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar, fans: "Every day people on the climbs yell at you"
Photo:
IMAGO/JASPER JACOBS / IMAGO/Belga
After a teammate was infected with the corona virus, two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar is worried about being infected.
Above all, he sees the proximity to the fans during a stage as a source of danger.
“Every day people on the climbs yell at you, which I like.
But it increases the likelihood of contracting viruses,” said the overall leader.
On Saturday his helper Vegard Stake Laengen had to retire because of a positive test.
Pogačar hopes the virus isn't in the team bubble.
"I hope that's it and we're safe until the end," said Pogačar
The leader of the tour does not see Corona as an invisible rival.
»Covid is not a rival.
It's just a virus that can affect things and ruin a tour," Pogačar said.
Rivals are drivers from teams like Jumbo and Ineos.
The 23-year-old was optimistic that his UAE team would still be strong enough with seven riders.
Three positive cases in the driver field
After six professionals had to withdraw before the start of the tour due to positive tests, things were quiet in the world's largest bike race for a long time.
On Saturday morning, alongside Laengen, Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard from the AG2R team tested positive.
The third case in the field of riders followed on Sunday: The French professional cyclist Guillaume Martin tested positive for Covid-19 before the ninth stage and was taken out of the race.
Martin was captain of the French racing team Cofidis, in which the Germans Simon Geschke and Maximilian Walscheid are also under contract.
Martin was 14th overall in a promising position.
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Max Walscheid on the first stage in Copenhagen
Photo: ANNEGRET HILSE / REUTERS
Walscheid expects more cases.
“We're not the only team in the situation.
You can only do what you can to protect yourself.
I think we did that well too.
That's just bad luck," he told the dpa news agency before the start of the ninth stage, adding: "It's stupid because we're all preparing so meticulously and the race is just so big and so hard.
It just can't be changed.
Unfortunately, that's part of it now, we have to deal with it.«
After the ninth stage, all drivers are due for the first mandatory corona tests since the start of the tour in Copenhagen.
Another corona test will follow on the last day of rest.
However, many teams test voluntarily in order to detect diseases in good time.
The field of drivers is just as narrow as at the edge of the track.
The athletes often cycle close together, especially in the peloton.
Despite numerous positive cases in recent weeks, the world cycling association UCI relaxed the corona rules shortly before the start of the tour.
Among other things, the rule that a team is taken out of the race as soon as two drivers test positive was dropped.
Read everything you need to know about the start of the Tour de France here
ngo/dpa