PARIS – Already delayed, the Tour de France begins on Saturday in uncertainty, flying in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and the imponderable question of how many of the 176 riders will become infected and spend 3 exceptionally difficult weeks of racing to succeed at the end in Paris.
That’s if the rolling roadshow goes that far.
Organizing the first cycling race when COVID-19 infections accumulate in France poses a threat to fitness and an embodiment of French President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that the country deserves to be informed to serve with the virus as often as you can imagine.
Failure to run the Tour safely on the cobblestones of Champs-Elysees Street in Paris on 20 September may raise additional doubts about the viability of other sports mega-events, adding that the Tokyo Olympics are postponed until next year, while coronavirus remains unde yorked. A key question to be asked as the race progresses will be whether it had been more prudent and safe to cancel.
“Does the tour add to the delight of the human network this year? Or does it hurt him? That’s the answer,” Jonathan Vaughters, head of the EF Education First team, told The Associated Press. “If we take the threat of living life, then I think we would possibly have to take on the threat of passing up occasions that make life value life, like the Tour. Is he guilty for the network as a whole? There are many opinions. Many.”
Amid the pandemic, the sometimes noisy cycling birthday party that for decades has attracted crowds of enthusiastic spectators along the road promises to be a more moderate affair, moved for the first time in its 117-year history of its classic. Hours from July to September, when many enthusiasts will return to school or the draw after the summer holidays.
Runners who, at a more carefree time, were regularly besiepped by admirers who gathered in front of their team’s buses and hotels deserve to be largely far from the outdoor world, unless they are on the roads. Organizers are asking spectators to wear face masks, but they may not be able to prevent runners from flying through their cities and towns, starting Saturday in the Mediterranean city of Nice. Masks will be mandatory for spectators at the beginning and end of the stages, and will be mandatory outdoors in an increasing number of cities and towns, while infection rates in France are higher during the summer.
“If you like the Tour, if you like champions, wear a mask,” said race director Christian Prudhomme. “Not only won’t it be the year to get an autograph, but you shouldn’t ask for autographs or ask for selfies. The Array Runners will say “Hello” from afar. That doesn’t mean they’re not nice. Overall, it will be like Wimbledon: you don’t get the autograph from (Roger) Federer in the morning.”
In an attempt to prevent the coronavirus from infecting the runners’ platoon while negotiating clockwise steering, 3484 kilometers (2165 miles), organizers aim to protect the 22 internal groups from what they call a “race bubble,” open only to runners and collaborators who have tested negative twice the raceArray by adding this week in a cellular lab in Nice.
The CoVID-19 protocol of the Tour, detailed in a 17-page document distributed to groups and received through AP, indicates that groups will be expelled if two of their cyclists or members test positive for the virus or have strong symptoms of infection. Race organizers say this situation will only be reserved for two or more instances over a seven-day period. The risk of expulsion makes cyclists and trainers even more nervous than they always did on the eve of the increased occasion of the cycling calendar, concerned not only about infection but also about the reliability of virus controls.
The German team Bora-Hansgrohe is among those who have expressed concern, after one of their drivers first tested positive and then negative on Tuesday, resulting in their entire team’s retirement from the Brittany Classic’s one-day race. The Bora team director, Ralph Denk, has called for immediate adjustments to the cycling testing regime to combat false positives.
“We’re talking about athletes who have been preparing for a race for weeks or months and might not be allowed to start the occasion because of a false discovery,” he said.
When the Tour groups arrived in Nice, some were surprised to note that they shared their designated hotel with guests, which raised doubts about the waterproofing of the racing bubble.
In addition to considerations on the COVID-19, cyclists will face one of the Tour’s most ruthless routes in memory, with a general top of 29 difficult climbs. The five French mountain ranges will rise: the Alps, the Central Massif, the Pyrenees, the Jura and the Vosges. The uphill stretches arrive from level 2 on Sunday, for the first time in the race, with two ascents at 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) and more.
An uphill time trial on the penultimate level before Paris makes a decision on the ranking of podium contenders and the winner’s prize of 500,000 euros ($590,000).
Defending champion Egan Bernal of Colombia is the last winner in a scratched box of four-time champion Chris Froome and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas, or passed through Bernal’s Ineos team, leaving him as their leader. The main one among Bernal’s rivals may be Primoz Roglic, a Slovenian who finished fourth in 2018, and Tom Dumoulin, the Dutch runner-up that year who is now Roglic’s teammate in Jumbo-Visma.
But with the pandemic that forces cyclists to exercise indoors on motorcycles tied to the desk and with infrequent races in this tumultuous year, the preparation of the contenders is one of the many uncertainties on a Tour like no other.
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