A disappointed Tom Pidcock will not line up for stage 14 of the Tour de France today. Tom is experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 and under advice from our medical team will now return home to recover.
“It's ridiculous to wear masks when we've been on climbs with fans 10cm away shouting at us” - Carlos Verona hits out at Tour de France's Covid protocol
CyclingWednesday, 17 July 2024 at 16:00
Riding in his first Grand Tour since moving to Lidl-Trek over the recent off-season, Carlos Verona has been battling away at the 2024 Tour de France without much reward so far. Despite the rising fear of the returning Covid amongst the peloton however, the Spaniard's Tour de France has not been made any more enjoyable by the enforcement of masks within the race.
"I think this is detrimental to cycling. I think we need to turn the page. It's ridiculous to be wearing masks when in the Pyrenees we've been on 15km climbs with fans ten centimetres away shouting at us, cheering us on," Verona laments in conversation with AS. "I don't understand it, I don't agree with it."
The likes of INEOS Grenadiers star Tom Pidcock, key domestique for Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates Juan Ayuso and Mark Cavendish's superstar leadout man Michael Morkov are all among the ever growing number of riders to abandon the 2024 Tour de France due to a positive Covid test. According to Verona however, it's long past time cycling moved on from concerns over coronavirus.
"If someone thinks it's right, then okay, but we need to turn the page," the 31-year-old former Movistar Team rider adds. "The coronavirus is still there, and it claimed many victims in its time, but the situation is a little more under control and we need to start normalising everything. Masks don't help."
As far as his own Tour de France however, Verona remains upbeat. "The team is very happy with me and that is what matters. You don't race for television or for the image of the spectator, you race for the interests of the team and, of all the Tours I have done, for me, without a doubt, this is the one in which I am performing best," he assesses. "Helping Giulio Ciccone on flat days, in the wind, in the mountains. Being in a breakaway may seem to make me shine more, but the appreciation of the team for the work I do is worth more than all that. I am satisfied and what I am thinking about is giving 100% until the end."
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- Times have changed, Bart Wellens, and it's only natural and makes total sense that riders like Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel's primary focus is on their road careers. It has absolutely nothing to do with doing a 'disservice' to the UCI.
santiagobenites14-11-2024 - Bad for us, good for them, indifferent for newcomers. When a bank offers you 50 to open an account is that good or bad? Good for you, bad for existing clients paying for it who received nothing when they joined, indifferent for future new clients who might get 100.Mistermaumau14-11-2024
- Why don’t you go copy-paste from a reliable scientific site instead of accepting the first info Google provides which is by no means scientific. Like I said before differently, EVERYTHING is poisonous if you replace the Oxygen you need with it. Breathing pure Oxygen will kill most of us in almost every situation (hospital deliver pure oxygen but dilute with air before inhalation so just enrich) fighter pilots and astronauts get pure oxygen because there is almost none in the atmosphere but as the pressure is far lower the concentration in the lungs remains similar to the N78/O21 known as air). nitrogen/oxygen instead of 80/20 (basically air) will likely kill you too. Nitrogen is completely neutral and unabsorbed yet you die from 100% so is it poisonous, no. It’s the wrong DOSE that is poisoning!Mistermaumau14-11-2024
- Well not really news after watching netflix doc . You did not need to be a rocket scientist to notice the body language and Pidcock giving the finger on the Alpe Huez stage . Thomas was non to pleased either as he lost a helper for the day. However fab win and will be interesting to see what happens over the off seasonpaultryan200214-11-2024
- Is it only me or new style/format of cyclinguptodate.com is really bad? Too small font in news titles and at the same time everything seems to be so streched that you need scroll and scroll...averagecyclist14-11-2024
- Tell us something we don't already know.santiagobenites14-11-2024
- Carbon Monoxide kills you by asphyxiation. It cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain by bonding with hemoglobin better than oxygen. But it's no poisonous since you breathe it everyday. You get too much water in your lungs and you ALSO die of asphyxiation. But tell me, other than bonding with hemoglobin what is deadly about carbon monoxide?Sweep13-11-2024
- No, it's not poisonous. You breath it in every single day of your life. If you live in a dense city you breath in 10X what a rural person breathes. It kills you by asphyxiation. You breathe in water and it also kills you by asphyxiation. Poisoning is a misnomer. You drink too much water and that kills you also. Is water poisonous?Sweep13-11-2024
- Different eras, different equipment, wildly different training with nearly robot-like nutrition requirements, and so on. The thing you can compare is the relative success of riders against their rivals. Maybe it’s fine to just say they stand above the rest of their generation, and be happy with that.RidesHills13-11-2024
- If you are getting ads your browser is set up to accept them, very easy to stop this. I have never had adds on this site.Senna196013-11-2024