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COVID-19 positives continue to wreak havoc on the Tour de Suisse

Three more teams and race leader Vlasov withdraw after positives

Photo by: Sirotti

Friday morning before the first of two high mountain summit finish stages at the Tour de Suisse was a difficult one for the teams and race organizers as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the peloton. The day after Jumbo-Visma withdrew its squad following positive tests, new race leader Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgroeh) abandoned because he had caught the virus leaving Jakob Fuglsang to take over the yellow jersey.

That was just the most shocking withdrawal.

After three riders tested positive, UAE-Emirates yanked the rest of the team from the 85th edition. Diego Ulissi was in fifth place on GC.

Bahrain-Victorious, who led the race for four days via Stephen Williams, went home after positives.

As did Alpecin-Fenix.

EF Education-Easypost had four riders depart after testing positive, carrying on with two.

The race started with 152 riders on Sunday and there are now 92 riders left.

In a statement, Tour de Suisse organizers said, “The representatives of the UCI, the teams, the riders and the Tour management jointly assessed the health situation this morning and decided to continue the race.”