Jumbo-Visma is leaving the Tour of Switzerland due to corona in the team

Jumbo-Visma will not start on Thursday in the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland. The Dutch team is leaving the competition because corona has crept into the team. It is not clear who contracted the virus. A total of four Jumbo-Visma riders would have tested positive.

The Jumbo-Visma team in the Tour of Switzerland consisted of Rohan Dennis, Robert Gesink, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Sepp Kuss, Sam Oomen, Timo Roosen and Mike Teunissen. After four stages it’s over for them. “The reason is that, despite all precautions, corona has crept back into the team,” can be read on the team site.

“In the interest of the health of the riders and staff and to protect the peloton and the race, the medical and sporting management of the Dutch formation considers withdrawing from the Swiss stage race the wisest decision. The decision was taken in consultation with the management of the Tour de Suisse.”

Fear Sailor becomes reality
Zeeman said earlier in conversation with CyclingFlash al that he considered such a scenario† “If you’re infected, it’s not like you’re done with it. Some just have a runny nose, but others are still really sick of it. If that happens to you, you can just put a line through the Tour. You can no longer deliver top performance.”

“That still happens. You don’t read it all in the news anymore, but we are still dealing with corona infections between our riders. That is why we have to be prepared to switch last minute,” says Zeeman. That is why Jumbo-Visma also recently announced that the Tour selection has not yet been (largely) fixed, so that there would still be options to choose from, in case corona strikes.

Consequences Tour Selection
“The six names we communicated at the start of the season (Wout van Aert, Rohan Dennis, Steven Kruijswijk, Sepp Kuss, Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, ed.), they have a very good chance. But: we’ll add other men to that. We do this partly because of our experiences of this year. Gijs Leemreize rode a fantastic Giro d’Italia, but his preparation was not good. Six days before the start of the Giro, we received the message that Chris Harper tested positive for corona. That is exactly one reason why we are now keeping our options open.”

However, Jumbo-Visma states on the team site that the situation “for the time being” has no consequences for the Tour selection, “although the developments of the coming days must of course be awaited.”

Update (12.55 pm)