The last COVID-19 tests before the Vuelta a España race led to two positive tests among team staff, but no driver tested positive for the virus.
A set issued through the organizers of the Vuelta a España and the ICU on Monday lunchtime said that one staff member of the Sunweb team and another from Bahrain McLaren had tested positively.
Both were placed in isolation through the respective physicians of their groups as the start of a follow-up and tracking procedure. It is not known how much or what contact the two have had with the runners and their companions since their arrival in Spain.
So far 498 tests have been carried out before Sunday’s race, covering the vast majority of runners and taking part in the Vuelta, without any riders having tested positive, according to the Lap-UCI press release.
The tests are still ongoing in the small minority of cyclists and fall behind the Tour of Flanders, and the final effects will be published before the start of level 1 on Tuesday.
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All persons accredited for the Vuelta a España, whether runners, staff, organization or media, must provide a negative PCR made up to five days before the race.
La Vuelta has created a cellular laboratory consisting of a team of 18 other people to perform up to 750 PCR tests on stripes consistent with the day.
In the Giro d’Italia, two Astana runners were replaced before starting in Sicily, while in the Tour de France, two members of the Lotto-Soudal team organization tested positive in the pre-race events. Astana eliminated Yuriy Natarov and Vadim Pronskiy after the race. two riders were in close contact with teammate Zhandos Bizhigitov, who tested positive for COVID-19.
No cyclist tested positive for the Tour de France, but Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) tested positive on the first day off of the Giro d’Italia.
Cyclingnews understands that the Lap will apply the same “two strikes, retired team” rule that was used in the Tour de France, with two runners in a team leading to the exclusion of this team from the race.
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