[Update September 14, 2020] According to Reuters, Christian Prudhomme has now tested negative for COVID-19 and will be back on the Tour de France in full force tomorrow. Having been only one week since he tested positive are we to believe he was miraculously cured, or was his positive test a false positive? We may never know. Either way it’s great to have him back.
[September 8, 2020] There’s nothing we’ve loved more this month than watching the Tour de France. Seeing the riders in a big old pack for a couple hours a day had us forgetting for a moment that it will still be awhile before we feel comfortable back in the peloton that we miss so much. Then, on rest day, the organizers did massive COVID-19 testing (650 people tested) and five TdF support staff tested positive. One of them was Tour Director Christian Prudhomme, according to a story in The Guardian.
“The testing campaign revealed that Christian Prudhomme has tested positive for Covid-19. The director of the Tour will now quarantine for seven days,” read a statement from race promoters ASO. “Although he was not part of the ‘race bubble’ and had not been in direct contact with any of the riders and their entourage, Christian Prudhomme still decided to get tested.”
So far, no racers have tested positive so it appears that we get at least six more days of racing before the next test. We hope Prudhomme gets well quickly, and that none of riders get sick in the coming days, because damn, it’s so good to watch a grand tour right now.
[Link: The Guardian]
