"The health of the riders is our priority" INEOS Sports Director, Zak Dempster, spoke about Geraint Thomas carrying on despite feeling unwell at the start of stage 14 🏴 #TDF2024
"We've been taking a number of precautions" - INEOS look to explain why Geraint Thomas is still in 2024 Tour de France despite positive Covid test
CyclingSaturday, 13 July 2024 at 23:30
Covid is running rife at the 2024 Tour de France with a number of big name riders being forced into abandoning after positive tests. Despite this however, a few riders who've tested positive are continuing on. One of those is INEOS Grenadiers' Geraint Thomas.
This decision has led to some raised eyebrows both within the peloton and on social media, especially giving Tom Pidcock was forced to withdraw from the race ahead of stage 14 due to a positive test. "I'm also not great. I've tested positive but I've got mild symptoms so the doctor is monitoring me closely," Thomas himself assessed pre-stage 14. "At the minute, I've just got a bit of a headache and a runny nose so we'll just have to see how it goes."
In the end, the Welshman was dropped a lot earlier in the day than you would normally expect and rolled home in 91st position, over half an hour down on stage winner Tadej Pogacar. Speaking to ITV Sport post-stage, INEOS Grenadiers sports director, Zak Dempster attempted to explain why the former Tour de France winner is still in the race despite the positive test.
"First and foremost, I think it's clear that the rider's health is a priority here," begins the Australian. "We've been taking a number of precautions since the start of the race, probably before a few of the other teams. Unfortunately, we're back to the not new, old normal," he laughs.
"With 'G' it just depends how the situation evolves. These things are like a head cold now per se but if it would progress to a point where he would be in danger, of course it doesn't make sense to start," Dempster continues. "Obviously, 'G' is the guy we're talking about here, we don't really want to discuss rider's medical issues in the public, I don't think that's fair for them. But at the same time, you see in our decision making that we are protecting the riders if we feel it's not safe for them to do so and this team will continue to do that now and into the future."
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