Effects of coronavirus on professional races

[KZD]

Pfff, I did have a feeling that they postponed everything too far into the future. A month and a half ago there could have been races without problems.

I don't think you can compare numbers of positive cases between now and March, though, as I would assume that every European country tests a lot more now than back then.

I agree with you, the last 20/30 days were kind of wasted.

At least many of the Spanish races like Catalonia, Basque Country and San Sebastian were already cancelled, while Vuelta is still three months away but there is the danger of spreading to other countries like France and Italy and with Vuelta a Burgos coming, I suspect that some WT teams will end up skipping it

 

[yaco]

Are they really going to test riders at the start of every day, say, in a stage race? Can they actually get the test results back before the race begins? Will they test every rider twice to reduce the number of false negatives?

You can only join the stage race if you test negative - My understanding is riders will be tested twice a week during a stage race - As long as the bio-security protocols are followed all should be fine - They resumed professional sport in Australia nearly 2 months ago without an issue.

 

[yaco]

Pfff, I did have a feeling that they postponed everything too far into the future. A month and a half ago there could have been races without problems.

I don't think you can compare numbers of positive cases between now and March, though, as I would assume that every European country tests a lot more now than back then.

It's also important to realise that most European countries have the virus in a containable situation compared to March when it travelled around the country in an unfettered manner - Do agree that racing should started in July but of course the UCI is governed by the health authorities.

 

[Merckx index]

They resumed professional sport in Australia nearly 2 months ago without an issue.

They just started major league baseball in the U.S., and one star player received notification of a positive test hours before the first game. In fact, almost 2% of several thousand tests of players and staff were positive.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

they left it too late so we'll be heading into the 2nd wave as the season starts. I foresee only cancellations. And then when they quit the calender wave 2 ends... and then they start up again at wave 3..

horrible mistimings

 

[Bonimenier]

Same thing here in Belgium. IIRC there were around 200 new cases the day the first lockdown started. Last couple of days they were also around 200 new cases everyday. Yesterday there were even 369. I'm starting to get afraid that a lot of races will eventually be cancelled the upcoming weeks/months.

 

[Faserr]

I think the numbers were low because nothing happend. No travel, no sport, no clubs and so on. If everything started in may, june or july the numbers would already have increased 3-4 weaks ago. I don't think cycling did the start too late. There are more important things which had to start again in june or july.
If cycling would have thought in more egostic way, of course they could have started a few weeks ago, but even for the ASO/Tour de France there was no way to get green light from the authorities in july.

 

[yaco]

They just started major league baseball in the U.S., and one star player received notification of a positive test hours before the first game. In fact, almost 2% of several thousand tests of players and staff were positive.

This is good news - You are weeding out the positive cases through regular testing - In Australian pro sport all athletes must have 2 tests per week and the restrictions on their life are far above the general community.

 

[yaco]

Same thing here in Belgium. IIRC there were around 200 new cases the day the first lockdown started. Last couple of days they were also around 200 new cases everyday. Yesterday there were even 369. I'm starting to get afraid that a lot of races will eventually be cancelled the upcoming weeks/months.

Actually the one day races in Belgium should be safe especially if they are in relatively unaffected areas.

 

[Bonimenier]

Actually the one day races in Belgium should be safe especially if they are in relatively unaffected areas.

It's true that one day races should be safer than stage races. At the moment the cases are pretty well spread all over the country. In Flanders 20% of towns are in the so called alarm phase.

 

[Merckx index]

Major League Baseball is very different from cycling, of course, but their experience as the delayed season gets underway is worrisome. I already noted that one star player tested positive hours before the first game. Another player's positive test results came out after the first game, in which he physically contacted at least one other player. Now several players on another team have tested positive, and since it was a road game, they will have to quarantine in that city while the rest of the team moves on.

 

[Ludwigzgz]

Spain is a vast country. Currently the risk in Burgos is low

3.6 for a million of population

https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-07...a-situacion-de-los-contagios-en-cada-una.html

 

[Nirvana]

The riders that were in Sibiu have to stay 14 days in isolation if they want to enter in Italy so they can't ride Strade and Sanremo.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1286661292187672577

View: https://twitter.com/robersperanza/status/1286661292187672577

 

[tobydawq]

The riders that were in Sibiu have to stay 14 days in isolation if they want to enter in Italy so they can't ride Strade and Sanremo.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1286661292187672577

View: https://twitter.com/robersperanza/status/1286661292187672577

Why can't they just get a test?

 

[Merckx index]

Why can't they just get a test?

Good question. A quarantine is fine if someone hasn't been tested, but if he has, and is negative, what's the problem? The PCR test does have false positives, but if a rider gets tested twice, both negative, he should be allowed to enter the country.

All i can guess is maybe they don't have tests available for foreigners in those countries?

 

[Nirvana]

Why can't they just get a test?

I'm pretty sure they also test everyone after the arrival but they still need the 14 days isolation before going out.

 

[dusty red roads]

I could be wrong but it's my understanding that you can test negative in the early stages, so they stipulate 14 days in case it doesn't show up straight away. Otherwise you could test negative and test positive later on, after they let you out! I've read about a few cases where they didn't test positive until 28 days later, but I think the general consensus is that if not positive by 14 days, the vast majority should be okay.

 

[samhocking]

Yes, 14 days is due to the delay of infection to detection I think. Thank heavens Italy reacted with Strade & San Remo within the next 14 days and several WT teams pulled out completely. Looks like only Bardiani, Israel & Bora would be theoretically sending riders, staff and vehicles from Romania to Strade this weekend will be affected, but they'll just about make Dauphine or Il Lombardia.

 

[Merckx index]

I could be wrong but it's my understanding that you can test negative in the early stages, so they stipulate 14 days in case it doesn't show up straight away. Otherwise you could test negative and test positive later on, after they let you out! I've read about a few cases where they didn't test positive until 28 days later, but I think the general consensus is that if not positive by 14 days, the vast majority should be okay.

Yes, you can test negative for a few days after exposure, but fourteen days seems extreme. It's been reported that a majority of people test positive within four days of exposure, though I'm not sure how accurate that information is, since in most cases people don't know exactly when they were exposed.

Italy's announcement caught me by surprise, because Iceland, e.g., allows foreigners to enter if they have a negative test, as an alternative to fourteen days quarantine. South Korea and Taiwan require negative tests before flight to those countries, but even someone testing negative does have to quarantine upon arrival. That seems a little odd to me. If you have to quarantine, anyway, what difference does it make if you have a negative test? Or to put it another way, what do they think a negative test signifies, if they don't trust it?

All the pro sports that are resuming, or making plans to resume, in the U.S. are basically assuming that anyone who is infectious will test positive. I think that's probably true in most cases. To be infectious, you have to have a pretty high concentration of virus in your saliva and other nasopharyngeal fluids, surely easily enough to detect. So while you might test negative following exposure, you probably aren't infectious at that point, either. I guess Italy isn't going to make exceptions for athletes, but this could have been doable if the riders had agreed to be tested every day for a period of time.

 

[Faserr]

If they are applying this rule to pro athletes which have tests very often it won't end good for this years pro cycling events. The riders which are currently in spain are also risiking quarantine then. Great britain has already imposed a quarantine rule for people coming from spain. Hopefully the Tour gets underway at least.

 

[Pantani_lives]

In Belgium there will be an important decision today about the number of spectators allowed at a sporting event. At the moment it's 200 indoors and 400 outdoors, but that might get stricter. It's even possible that no spectators will be allowed anymore. I'm not sure what that would mean for cycling, where the access is normally free.

 

[Faserr]

I just watched the press conference of the bavarian (german state) prime minister. He wants compulsory tests for people coming from countries with a high amount of case, because quarantine can't be controlled. With a negative test, people wouldn't have to go to quarantine. I think in europe the countries have to apply the same rule, otherwise there will be chaos again.
People shouldn't travel much and professional athletes or workers should be allowed to travel with negative tests.

 

[Escarabajo]

In Belgium there will be an important decision today about the number of spectators allowed at a sporting event. At the moment it's 200 indoors and 400 outdoors, but that might get stricter. It's even possible that no spectators will be allowed anymore. I'm not sure what that would mean for cycling, where the access is normally free.

I understand what they are saying about gatherings in one place, whether outdoor and indoor. But in cycling I don't think there is control on the road when people and bystanders from a town and city go to watch the race. That would add up to a lot more than 400. But spreaded out along the road. Now in the towns it is up to the organizers and towns to avoid such big gatherings.

 

[dusty red roads]

Yes, you can test negative for a few days after exposure, but fourteen days seems extreme. It's been reported that a majority of people test positive within four days of exposure, though I'm not sure how accurate that information is, since in most cases people don't know exactly when they were exposed.

Italy's announcement caught me by surprise, because Iceland, e.g., allows foreigners to enter if they have a negative test, as an alternative to fourteen days quarantine. South Korea and Taiwan require negative tests before flight to those countries, but even someone testing negative does have to quarantine upon arrival. That seems a little odd to me. If you have to quarantine, anyway, what difference does it make if you have a negative test? Or to put it another way, what do they think a negative test signifies, if they don't trust it?

All the pro sports that are resuming, or making plans to resume, in the U.S. are basically assuming that anyone who is infectious will test positive. I think that's probably true in most cases. To be infectious, you have to have a pretty high concentration of virus in your saliva and other nasopharyngeal fluids, surely easily enough to detect. So while you might test negative following exposure, you probably aren't infectious at that point, either. I guess Italy isn't going to make exceptions for athletes, but this could have been doable if the riders had agreed to be tested every day for a period of time.

I think the main thing is if you test negative on arriving into a country, you can still test positive a few days later - even if not a full 2 weeks. It's quite possible to pick it up in airports or while traveling. My relative who had it is sure she got it in the airport crush to get out of Vietnam, there was a point where she was standing next to one of her new travel friends, (who also tested positive later on), her friend who she was traveling with and sitting with on the plane didn't get it (or was asymptomatic) and no-one else in their little group got it - while the other person who got it sat in a different area on the plane. It's quite possible had they been tested at the airport on arrival, or even on departure, it would have been negative. So I can understand even a few days quarantine. I guess the jury's out for the time length that it 'should' be though.....

 

[Poursuivant]

It’s all heading one way isn’t it, cases are going up and up, I think we are only going to get a handful of the August races before the rug starts to get pulled.

This isn’t promising either:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1287788387177574402

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/inrng/status/1287788387177574402