Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jul 12, 2024 16:09:50 GMT
Mark Cavendish: ‘I Know There Are Riders with COVID in the Tour de France Peloton’ - Published July 11, 2024
Mark Cavendish suggested Thursdy ahead of stage 12 of the Tour de France that teams are taking risks with health, saying that some are competing with COVID and potentially exposing others.
The Manxman spoke Thursday following the decision of key leadout man Michael Mørkøv to withdraw from the race with the virus.
A number of riders have exited the race with illness in recent days.
Tim Declerq (Lidl Trek) was declared DNS due to illness Wednesday, and Bahrain-Victorious’ Fred Wright did not make the cut-off on stage 11 Wednesday with the suggestion he was sick.
Wright’s teammate Bilbao climbed off the bike early on stage 12 soon after the team activated its COVID protocols.
Cavendish confirmed that he himself is not ill before he spoke to the cameras Thursday.
“I think our team has taken a responsible decision,” Cavendish told Eurosport at the start of stage 12 on Thursday. “Michael is not well, so that protects himself and it protects every other rider and everybody else at the Tour.
“I know that there are riders riding with COVID in the peloton and that can affect everybody. There is not much you can do about it, is there?”
Staff at EF Education EasyPost told Velo‘s Andy McGrath ahead of stage 12 the team was masking up as a precaution for sign in and speaking to media as worry rattles through the race-weary peloton.
“We are not sick, it’s just so we don’t get sick,” sport director Andreas Klier said. “Everyone has to do it since yesterday, we got this callout from our doctors.”
Is there fear of a virus going through the peloton? “This, I don’t know. The whole team got this message yesterday night. It’s as simple as that.”
Asked whether he was more wary of a virus spreading through, Ineos Grenadiers DS Zak Dempster said: “Yeah, definitely. Also, yesterday there were some guys coming out of the bunch that you wouldn’t expect.”
“People are battling things but that’s kind of normal in a grand tour. You’re up and down anyway. We are so jaded in a way, or more careful since Covid, that it’s perhaps just exacerbated normal viruses or normal things or normal ups and downs.
If anyone says to you, they feel completely healthy on stage 12, they’re probably either a liar or an amazing athlete.”
“For the time being, we’re just protecting the group as much as we can by wearing masks, cleaning our hands, all that stuff we already do. For now, all our guys are healthy and want to race.”
Leadout mastermind Mørkøv did not start stage 12 of the Tour after his Astana Qazaqstan team confirmed the Dane came down with COVID.
The news comes as a major blow for Cavendish in his chase for more sprint victories after he rode Mørkøv’s wheel to wins all through his time with Quick-Step and again in recent years with Astana.
Mørkøv’s DNS sent further rattles of concern through the tight-knit Tour de France peloton.
Declerq exited the race Wednesday with sickness, and Wright didn’t make the time cut of stage 11 as he suffered the suspicion of an illness sweeping through his Bahrain-Victorious bus.
Tadej Pogačar, Sepp Kuss, and Tao Geoghegan Hart are among other major names to have had a brush with COVID in the weeks ahead of this Tour de France.
“Yesterday evening and this morning Michael Mørkøv was tested positive for COVID-19,” a note from Astana-Qazaqstan read Thursday.
“Despite the rider feels good and doesn’t have essential symptoms, the medical staff of Astana Qazaqstan Team took a decision to stop the rider, first of all, to protect his health from long-term effects the virus could provoke in the future.”
ASO has cut back on mandatory testing and “distancing” measures in the years since the pandemic, though teams still implement their own protocols.
This second week of the Tour has seen more and more riders and staff wearing face masks amid concern of a virus sweeping through the fast-fatiguing peloton.
Mørkøv’s exit with sickness marks a sad end to what was his final Tour de France.
The 39-year-old confirmed only days ago that he would retire at the end of the year after a sensational pro career providing Limousine-level leadouts to the likes of Alexander Kristoff, Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett, and Fabio Jakobsen.
Bahrain-Victorious GC leader Bilbao did not finish the stage Thursday, calling it quits after he was dropped early on during stage 12.
The Spaniard yo-yoed back and forth, sliding off the back on several occasions and fighting back to the main bunch again.
With 118km to go he was almost a minute behind the peloton and he abandoned almost immediately afterward.
He was sixth in last year’s Tour and went into the race with high hopes, but lost time on the Galibier stage on day four. He was sitting 15th overall heading into stage 11 on Wednesday but had a shocking day, being dropped and finished 38 minutes back.
Things were even tougher on Thursday and his race is now over.
According to Marca, the team had activated the COVID protocol with several riders travelling in individual cars wearing protective masks, with other teammates going on the team bus.
The uncharacteristic weaknesses and withdrawals of Bilbao and Wright will increase speculation that COVID could be the issue, but the teammate Matej Mohoric denied that in his pre-stage 12 interview.
“We tested and there are no positive COVID tests,” he told Sporza. “But some riders are indeed not feeling great. We have to wait and see if it goes away. I didn’t feel good after stage six, but now it’s better.”
Mark Cavendish suggested Thursdy ahead of stage 12 of the Tour de France that teams are taking risks with health, saying that some are competing with COVID and potentially exposing others.
The Manxman spoke Thursday following the decision of key leadout man Michael Mørkøv to withdraw from the race with the virus.
A number of riders have exited the race with illness in recent days.
Tim Declerq (Lidl Trek) was declared DNS due to illness Wednesday, and Bahrain-Victorious’ Fred Wright did not make the cut-off on stage 11 Wednesday with the suggestion he was sick.
Wright’s teammate Bilbao climbed off the bike early on stage 12 soon after the team activated its COVID protocols.
Cavendish confirmed that he himself is not ill before he spoke to the cameras Thursday.
“I think our team has taken a responsible decision,” Cavendish told Eurosport at the start of stage 12 on Thursday. “Michael is not well, so that protects himself and it protects every other rider and everybody else at the Tour.
“I know that there are riders riding with COVID in the peloton and that can affect everybody. There is not much you can do about it, is there?”
Masking up and on high alert
Staff at EF Education EasyPost told Velo‘s Andy McGrath ahead of stage 12 the team was masking up as a precaution for sign in and speaking to media as worry rattles through the race-weary peloton.
“We are not sick, it’s just so we don’t get sick,” sport director Andreas Klier said. “Everyone has to do it since yesterday, we got this callout from our doctors.”
Is there fear of a virus going through the peloton? “This, I don’t know. The whole team got this message yesterday night. It’s as simple as that.”
Asked whether he was more wary of a virus spreading through, Ineos Grenadiers DS Zak Dempster said: “Yeah, definitely. Also, yesterday there were some guys coming out of the bunch that you wouldn’t expect.”
“People are battling things but that’s kind of normal in a grand tour. You’re up and down anyway. We are so jaded in a way, or more careful since Covid, that it’s perhaps just exacerbated normal viruses or normal things or normal ups and downs.
If anyone says to you, they feel completely healthy on stage 12, they’re probably either a liar or an amazing athlete.”
“For the time being, we’re just protecting the group as much as we can by wearing masks, cleaning our hands, all that stuff we already do. For now, all our guys are healthy and want to race.”
Leadout ace Mørkøv leaves final Tour after positive test
Leadout mastermind Mørkøv did not start stage 12 of the Tour after his Astana Qazaqstan team confirmed the Dane came down with COVID.
The news comes as a major blow for Cavendish in his chase for more sprint victories after he rode Mørkøv’s wheel to wins all through his time with Quick-Step and again in recent years with Astana.
Mørkøv’s DNS sent further rattles of concern through the tight-knit Tour de France peloton.
Declerq exited the race Wednesday with sickness, and Wright didn’t make the time cut of stage 11 as he suffered the suspicion of an illness sweeping through his Bahrain-Victorious bus.
Tadej Pogačar, Sepp Kuss, and Tao Geoghegan Hart are among other major names to have had a brush with COVID in the weeks ahead of this Tour de France.
“Yesterday evening and this morning Michael Mørkøv was tested positive for COVID-19,” a note from Astana-Qazaqstan read Thursday.
“Despite the rider feels good and doesn’t have essential symptoms, the medical staff of Astana Qazaqstan Team took a decision to stop the rider, first of all, to protect his health from long-term effects the virus could provoke in the future.”
ASO has cut back on mandatory testing and “distancing” measures in the years since the pandemic, though teams still implement their own protocols.
This second week of the Tour has seen more and more riders and staff wearing face masks amid concern of a virus sweeping through the fast-fatiguing peloton.
Mørkøv’s exit with sickness marks a sad end to what was his final Tour de France.
The 39-year-old confirmed only days ago that he would retire at the end of the year after a sensational pro career providing Limousine-level leadouts to the likes of Alexander Kristoff, Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett, and Fabio Jakobsen.
Pello Bilbao joins teammate Fred Wright in departing race with illness
Bahrain-Victorious GC leader Bilbao did not finish the stage Thursday, calling it quits after he was dropped early on during stage 12.
The Spaniard yo-yoed back and forth, sliding off the back on several occasions and fighting back to the main bunch again.
With 118km to go he was almost a minute behind the peloton and he abandoned almost immediately afterward.
He was sixth in last year’s Tour and went into the race with high hopes, but lost time on the Galibier stage on day four. He was sitting 15th overall heading into stage 11 on Wednesday but had a shocking day, being dropped and finished 38 minutes back.
Things were even tougher on Thursday and his race is now over.
According to Marca, the team had activated the COVID protocol with several riders travelling in individual cars wearing protective masks, with other teammates going on the team bus.
The uncharacteristic weaknesses and withdrawals of Bilbao and Wright will increase speculation that COVID could be the issue, but the teammate Matej Mohoric denied that in his pre-stage 12 interview.
“We tested and there are no positive COVID tests,” he told Sporza. “But some riders are indeed not feeling great. We have to wait and see if it goes away. I didn’t feel good after stage six, but now it’s better.”