Guillaume Martin critical of Tour de France Covid regulations: "It's extremely vague and completely open to interpretation"

Guillaume Martin was one of the three riders so far to abandon the Tour de France due to a positive Covid-19 test, and the most high profile casualty of those. The French climber has since traveled back home where he will recover, but a taste of disappointment is left within Cofidis.

In conversation with L'Équipe Martin has criticized the Tour de France's current Covid-19 protocol: “It's extremely vague and completely open to interpretation. That was also my problem: I thought the protocol was structured in such a way that a rider could continue riding without symptoms of disease," he said - likely referring to Bob Jungels' case who was allowed to start the Tour despite a positive test the days prior to the Grand Depart. 

Naturally though, Martin was pulled out of the race. He explained: "When I had a PCR test on Sunday morning, it turned out that I was highly contagious. But that degree of contagiousness is not included in the protocol.”

“If I hadn't said anything on Saturday, I would have just driven on Sunday. And I think some other riders do. Those are just conjectures and rumours, but it seems illogical to me that I'm the only one in this situation," the Cofidis rider argumented. He had said to be chasing stage wins throughout the three weeks, however after surviving the treacherous opening stages, Martin was sitting in 14th position before his abandon between stages eight and nine of the race.

"Many riders remain below their level and there must be an explanation for this. Could there be a cluster contamination in the peloto? It is certainly possible. The bubble is less respected," he concluded. Three cases have been discovered so far within the peloton, however the rest-day round of testing has shown no new positive cases which will see the peloton keep it's size ahead of the second week of racing.