(Lourdes) Three riders, including Briton Chris Froome, four-time winner of the event, tested positive for coronavirus and left the Tour de France before the start of the 18e stage in Lourdes.
Posted at 7:50 a.m.
The other two riders are Spaniard Imanol Erviti (Movistar) and Italian Damiano Caruso (Bahrain).
“A test carried out shortly before departure revealed that Chris had contracted COVID-19,” Froome’s squad Israel PT said.
“The other runners have all tested negative and are ready to race,” the Israeli team said.
Froome, four times winner of the Tour between 2013 and 2017 before his serious accident in June 2019, occupied the 26e place in the standings, nearly an hour and a half behind Dane Jonas Vingegaard.
Caruso, second in the 2021 Giro, showed mild symptoms, his team said. The Sicilian occupied the 22e place in the classification more than an hour from the yellow jersey.
For his part, Erviti, 80e in the general classification, who participated for the thirteenth time in the Tour, is in good health, announced his formation.
This triple withdrawal brings to fifteen the number of runners who had to abandon the race due to COVID-19.
The 18e stage, the last in the mountains, connects Lourdes to Hautacam.