The absence of positive cases during the platoon’s tests on Sunday evening will have been short-lived. The Covid returns this Tuesday, after the peloton’s rest day in Morzine. UAE Emirates, the Tadej Pogacar yellow jersey team, has announced the package of its New Zealand climber George Bennett, who tested positive for Covid.
“Monday evening George had some symptoms. He was tested according to our internal protocol and the test came back positive. He will not start the race today,” explained team doctor Adrian Rotunno. The antigen test was confirmed by a PCR test on Tuesday morning.
This is the second positive case in the UAE team, after that of the Norwegian Stake Vegard Laengen on Saturday. The noose is tightening around the yellow jersey, which had recognized this weekend that “the Covid can ruin the Tour”. Tadej Pogacar published an Instagram story yesterday in which he appears right next to Bennett, without a mask.
This new package is added to that of the Australian Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange) this Tuesday morning. On Sunday evening, the whole peloton was tested by the UCI and the tests all came back negative. A short-lived improvement.