Less than a month before returning to foreign careers, groups and their medical staff still do not know how safe the facets of ICU medical procedures can be implemented and are waiting for final data on what happens if it is a COVID-19 coronavirus looks like a race.
The UCI has published a 13-page document entitled ”Reopening the road cycling season in the context of the ‘coronavirus’ pandemic, created through the UCI medical director, Professor Xavier Bigard, team and runner representatives and several team doctors. It includes data on pre-race threat assessments, the creation of protective bubbles and platoons, pre-race tests for COVID-19 and social distance.
However, there are 4 lines about what happens if a suspicious case of COVID-19 occurs within a team or in the platoon itself.
A case of COVID-19, the Tour de France could, in theory, mean avoiding the race. But so far, the ICU and the race organizers have not published any procedures or protocols on what will happen, simply stating: “The control of clinical bodies will be carried out in accordance with the local fitness service and in accordance with WHO guidelines.”
A highly experienced and experienced team doctor told Cyclingnews that Professor Bigard had stated that the races would not stop in the event of a positive COVID-19.
Suggestions included the removal and isolation of the runner or member, or even the withdrawal of the team in consultation of the race. It is not known how other runners and groups would react to this decision.
Each race organizer will have to inform groups of their country’s express regulations two weeks before the start of the race, but time is running out.
The Sibiu Cycling Tour in Romania begins on July 23, the Vuelta a Burgos in Spain on July 28, while the men’s and women’s WorldTour begins with Strade Bianche on August 1. The Tour de France is less than two months away.
In France, a strict 14-day quarantine remains mandatory to contact a suspected COVID-19 operator, while Italy has recently followed a more flexible rule for professional play to ensure that Serie A football matches can start over, with proven groups. for COVID-19 they are still allowed to continue gambling if all tests are negative.
A football bubble comes with about thirty players and maybe 20 members. A cycling bubble would come with up to 176 runners and about two hundred members of 22 teams, not to mention race officials. If a case of COVID-19 arises in a primary cycling race, it would be difficult to review them in time to begin the next day’s stage.
However, so far, the UCI has not published any detailed procedures on how it will deal with an alleged COVID-19 case in a race. The ICU still had to provide more data or react at the time of publication.
“I hope there are no cases of COVID-19 in the races, but there may be,” a team doctor, who liked to be identified, told Cyclingnews.
“We are other sports, it was not like football, the team bubble and the peloton bubble are much bigger. The ICU says it will be based on the medical protocols of each country and the organizers of the race will have to tell us two weeks.” before, however, this makes things very complicated: one race can be stopped and another, in theory, can continue.
“Teams will compete in Spain, then in Italy, France, Belgium and elsewhere. Professor Bigard and everyone else involved have worked on the protocols, but I think we want to know the procedures for every situation imaginable when it comes to suspected cases. It’s everyone’s lifeblood. Runners and groups want to know what they can face as soon as possible.”
Groups also seek to comply with the UCI protocol on COVID-19 controls prior to the race. Runners will have to go through an RT-PCR control on the nose/throat strip within 10 days of a race and another at least 72 hours before the race. However, in some countries, RT-PCR swab testing can only be performed through public fitness facilities if there is a suspicious case of COVID-19 or if someone has symptoms.
It is very likely that Grand Tours will create sets of cell checks for mandatory check-up on rest days, but groups rush to locate personal check labs near races or near the broker’s house across Europe. Runners would probably have to move on to the races two or three days in advance to be reviewed.
Without a verification result, runners will not be able to compete. This can have an effect on the variety of groups and travel plans of runners and groups in the last days before a race.
“It’s complicated, and the tests don’t offer a 100 percent guarantee because other people can catch the virus after their tests and the virus takes several days to develop, yet we want to do anything to help create the protective bubble.” equipment, ” said the team doctor to Cyclingnews.
“No risk 0; That’s impossible. Science and mathematics are two other things. We have to be careful and protective and the tests can help. But that adds another complication to all this.”
“This provides sleepless nights for doctors and team managers, but we all do everything we can to make sure everyone is there and that the races can continue. But as the days pass until the first races, much remains to be understood.”
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