Tadej Pogacar has steered clear of the Tour de Suisse which has been shed severely this morning with a total of 30 riders not taking to the start, however in Slovenia the Tour de France defending champion is not safe and shares concerns over a possible Covid-19 infection.
Pogacar's teammate in Slovenia Mikkel Bjerg, a loyal road captain for the Slovenian, has tested positive and abandoned the race. His roomate Vegard Stake Laengen has also been taken out of the race, leaving UAE Team Emirates with less support. That won't be too worrisome for Pogacar who is the overwhelming favourite to win the race, and has teammate Rafal Majka in the lead, however there may be big consequences to having been in contact with Bjerg.
At the start of the third stage of the Tour of Slovenia, Pogacar shared his thoughts with the media: "Here in Slovenia [Bjerg] was positive. So we take out also [Vegard] Stake Laengen just for precaution because he was a close contact with him and in Tour de Suisse there are also a lot of positives... So yeah. It doesn't look like a good situation. Doesn't look good."
Teammate Marc Hirschi who is also expected to be at the Tour tested positive in Suisse, having the whole team drop out of the race. With the Grand Depart just two weeks away several riders fear their place in the Tour may be at risk. Even if not, an infection this close to the race and the lack of training associated with it, alongside possible logistic problems, may bring serious issues to the riders which have already been affected - such as Adam Yates, Gino Mäder, Rigoberto Uran and Aleksandr Vlasov.
Pogačar on COVID: Here in Slovenia [Bjerg] was positive. So we take out also Stake Laengen just for precaution because he was in close contact with him and in Tour de Swiss there are also a lot of positives... So yeah. It doesn't look like a good situation. Doesn't look good.
