(Reuters) – Twice defending champion Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates team were hit by another case of COVID-19 at the Tour de France when their manager, Joxean Fernandez Matxin, tested positive for the virus.
“Good morning, now I am the one who has to say goodbye to the main goal of the year,” Matxin said on Twitter on Thursday.
“Last night I tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the team’s internal controls.”
Pogacar lost two team mates in the race to COVID-19 while another one, Poland’s Rafal Majka, also tested positive on Tuesday but was allowed to stay on the Tour as he was not deemed contagious.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Majka tested negative on Wednesday.
Pogacar is third overall going into Thursday’s 12th stage to l’Alpe d’Huez after losing the yellow jersey to Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
