UAE Team Emirates reveal 40-page protocol to prevent Covid-19 transmission in the team for Tour de France

Covid-19 has taken throughout these last two and a half years many riders out of races - big or small - in the blink of an eye. A hard variable to control for the Tour de France, but one which defending champion's team UAE Team Emirates take very seriously and aim at reducing the risks as much as possible.

The team lost Vegard Stake Laengen in the first week due to Covid-19. However no other cases have been found within the team. Team doctor Adriano Rottuno explained to Cyclingnews: "He complained of some symptoms at midnight the night before and he [had] tested negative that day but the next morning he tested positive".

Team's performance coordinator Jeroen Swar has said to have created "a 40-page protocol to cover every single aspect of what we do. It's evidence-based, and aims to guide the riders and staff in all their activities," which was aimed to keep the team safe from Covid-19 throughout the Tour de France, and in cases such as the one case that appeared, prevent transmission within the team.

"We do everything from the typical measures – the ones that everybody knows about, like masks and hand-sanitising solutions in multiple places in the bus and vehicles – to extra measures, like having an air filtration unit installed in the bus to help eliminate viruses and other contamination," he explained.

He explained how preparation of food, internal testing, mask mandates, social distancing, hand hygiene and not socializing out of the bubble are all rules implemented by the team for the race so as to prevent a disastrous outcome. "For us, it’s important we stick to those protocols and if we have a positive that's the way the dice have fallen for us and we have to deal with that situation," Swart justified. 

"The more we can mitigate risk and limit the damage, or the exposure, the better at the end of the day, because there’s nothing to stop Covid from ending our race," he concluded. In the peloton-wide mandatory testing, there were no positive Covid-19 tests, however more are to be expected now in the second week.