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Effects of coronavirus on professional races

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Jens Keukeleire got covid in March, had a high fever for 10 days, and it took him 3 months to train somewhat normally again. He says he never had to return from this deep. His results in the classics, by the way, are not very convincing. What if he never reaches his old level again?

But hey, you know best.


And how many riders have crashed this year and will never ride at the same level again...more than one I'd wager but its ok to take those risks but the very rare risk of covid in young fit men makes that unacceptable.!!!!!.. How many riders have been injured out training ?in your world we lock up shop for miniscule risk whilel taking bigger risks with life and limb elsewhere

that you cant even see this is just why the world is falling a part with the pathetic way governments are managing risk and covid

but I guess you dont know better hence why you take one case and try and insult as a reply ...pathetic
 
You're the one who wrote that the call about team safety and COVID is a "crock" and that the chance is almost zero that "anyone in the teams will develop any kind of Covid that negatively impacts their health".

Someone then notes a Jumbo DS was seriously impacted, and I give Keukeleire as an example of a rider who had a difficult time. There haven't been very many infections in the cycling world, but among that relatively small number, there are already quite serious cases. So your hyberbolic comment is unjustified, and if you would've done some research, you would've known (better).

I'm a scientist, I like facts, not sweeping generalizations and hyperbole. Organizing races in this pandemic is feasible, but you have to be serious about protocols and risk. If not, other races are also put at risk, and I don't want that. Cancelling races like P-R out of fear is as emotional as laughing away covid-risks for athletes and staff. A rational approach is needed.
 
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Covid is a very serious problem for all humanity from different perspectives, some draw the short straw, some are collateral victims, some die, some lose their jobs, some don't give a **** and most of the governments are clueless. Unfortunately too many seem to be affected by the pandemic in the logic department. The show must go on, in this case the Giro, otherwise we can all go home and wait for the apocalypse while watching Netflix reruns.
 
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I hope the race continues but honestly, the moment the talk of riders not feeling safe at the giro starts coming from more than one direction you know there is a big issue. And if the peloton doesn't want to keep racing a cancellation is a reasonable measure. I just really really hope they get it under control. We are already over half the distance and if it gets cancelled right when it was supposed to properly start, that would simply be a huge disappointment.
 
I hope the race continues but honestly, the moment the talk of riders not feeling safe at the giro starts coming from more than one direction you know there is a big issue. And if the peloton doesn't want to keep racing a cancellation is a reasonable measure. I just really really hope they get it under control. We are already over half the distance and if it gets cancelled right when it was supposed to properly start, that would simply be a huge disappointment.

I thought the same as you, then I began wondering what would make me (ie a random rider in the race) think I'd have the right thinking I could call for an end of the race.

The only thing I could think of was feeling a little cold, riding for a team that didn't have any more goals left in the race, having alright+ English speaking skills and not really being afraid of the corona virus itself but just being tired of this whole situation, and wanting to put an end to this season.
 
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Except there can't be a bubbles for professional cycling..........What every cycling race organizer is doing is not a bubble. If the TDF bubble was so impenetrable why did some staff members get COVID there?

Look, Italian police is a joke and I have no problem admitting they're very likely responsible for breaches in the protocols. And RCS has a long way to go ensuring riders safety at every level.

Okay then perhaps “bubble“ is the wrong word but certainly the organisers of the races are calling them bubbles and it seems obvious the Giro hasn’t done as good a job as the TdF. If the Giro was then we would not be having this exchange.

Yes unmasked fans were at the Tour too but the Tour didn’t have teams eating in such risky circumstances either. Controllable risks.

I am sure the Italian police might be difficult but then Italy is the country which tried to sue for Ayrton Senna’s death so I know they take legal liability of controllable risks very seriously.
 
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It would certainly appear that the Giro didn't do as good a job as the Tour but before comparing numbers we should take into account that transmission in Europe is just higher now than during the Tour.
And how many riders have crashed this year and will never ride at the same level again...more than one I'd wager but its ok to take those risks but the very rare risk of covid in young fit men makes that unacceptable.!!!!!.. How many riders have been injured out training ?in your world we lock up shop for miniscule risk whilel taking bigger risks with life and limb elsewhere
This is absurd. Crashes are an inherent risk of any sport that consists of racing as fast as possible on relatively flimsy machines. The frickin' plague is not an inherent part of the sport. It's like the difference between a crash and a rider being run over by a car that invaded the route due to poor organization.

Might as well compare crashes to bear attacks.
 
This call about team safety and COVID is a crock

The idea that anyone in the teams will develop any kind of Covid that negatively impacts their health is so so small..almost none nor are they near anyone who is vulnerable

but the same team priciples that talk so virtuously about r safety allow their riders to fling themselves off mountains in nothing but lycra for protection at 80+Km per hour in icy and wet conditions or race at high speed through narrow gaps at the end of races

But suddenly its all off cos of the threat of Covid positives

But the riders could have it without knowing and take it home to elderly parents/grandparents/underlying who have a higher chance of dying from it. It's not all about the cycling.
 
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But the riders could have it without knowing and take it home to elderly parents/grandparents/underlying who have a higher chance of dying from it. It's not all about the cycling.

Given all the precaution, even if not 100% which is impossible apart from being in a hazmat suit and professional protective equipment, chances that these riders get infected and then pass it on to vulnerable people are far far less than if they are employed in different jobs and go to office, factory whatever and living a social life.
 
It is not cycling but it is sport so I will write it here. In Slovakia ice hockey league is 5th round today and 10 out of 12 teams had Covid in preseason or at the start of season or now have Covid in team. Some of them more than half of roster. I estimate 20-25 % of players were or are now positive. Today none of 6 games is played and only one game from first round is played today. Everything in country where cases are skyrocketing. That is real mess not Giro.
 
I actually thought that having your own cook had been a thing for the last decade.
there's an interview with Bouwman in Dutch press now, where he says that Jumbo had their own chef at the race, but was till using the shared dining room(s)

(gt) “We sat together in the dining room with five teams. Fortunately, we still had our own cook, but the others were all together at the buffet to serve. ”

 
there's an interview with Bouwman in Dutch press now, where he says that Jumbo had their own chef at the race, but was till using the shared dining room(s)

(gt) “We sat together in the dining room with five teams. Fortunately, we still had our own cook, but the others were all together at the buffet to serve. ”

We need a daily surveillance video feed from inside the eve dining rooms so we can really see what.’s going on! :)
 
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Very good point. Yes I checked and Italian active cases are now 99k compared to 67k in France when the Tour ended. Sadly the second wave is accelerating. :(

I think you are missing one zero there: France is at 670+k active cases;)

672,477 in France vs. 107,312 in Italy as of right now.

 
I don't think Italy is as big problem as some other parts of Europe... I mean France and Czechia are pretty bad... Netherlands and Belgium are up there, too... And truly, I'm more concerned about Vuelta than Italy:

w40_41_COVID_subnational_Last_2week.png


 
Fabrizio Guidi (EF) has said riders and staff members weren't informed of the letter sent to the UCI. According to him, riders feel safe and want to get to Milan.

Like I said it before, I'll say it again, Vaughters and the EF management are a bunch of virtue signaling hipsters... Had no idea they hid it from their riders... You'd think they ask them first as they have the most to lose... :rolleyes:
 
I think you are missing one zero there: France is at 670+k active cases;)

672,477 in France vs. 107,312 in Italy as of right now.

I don't think that stat is reliable. At all.
 
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Fabrizio Guidi (EF) has said riders and staff members weren't informed of the letter sent to the UCI. According to him, riders feel safe and want to get to Milan.

Absolutely ridiculous from Vaughters. Clark making it crystal clear where the letter is coming from:

"Jonathan Vaughters is very concerned about the health of riders and staff. "

So basically the riders and guys running the team on the ground are all happy and fine but the management back in the states has decided they know better?
 
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I don't think that stat is reliable. At all.

What's not so reliable?



You take the number of people who were found Covid-19 positive and subtract the number of people that were declared "cured", aka free of Covid-19, aka discharged home, choose the language. Simple arithmetic for the purpose of cross-comparisons between countries... I admit, in the actual details how the numbers are collected and defined, it might make some difference but we are talking here one order of magnitude: ~67k vs. ~670k.

On the second look into the data, it might be too simplistic... I leave it here for others to chime in but yeah the way the worldmeters.info website computes the active cases might not be correct. They most likely miss all those people who were cured without being admitted to a hospital... My bad;)
 
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I think you are missing one zero there: France is at 670+k active cases;)

672,477 in France vs. 107,312 in Italy as of right now.

Oops. Yes you are right, thanks for the pickup. In any case the point is cases in Italy now are worse than cases in France during the Tour.
 

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