Tour de France leader Tadej Pogachar lost his second support rider after UAE Team Emirates announced Tuesday morning that New Zealand climber George Bennett had tested positive for COVID-19.

There were also unconfirmed reports that another important mountain support rider for Pogachar, Rafal Majka, had tested positive, but with a low viral load.Cyclingnews has won the Tour de France mountains prize and has won multiple stages Cyclingnews asked the team for their reaction regarding the Polish racer, who has won multiple stages of the Tour de France.

Bennett is the second rider to test positive for COVID-19 on the UAE Team Emirates Tour de France. He is also the second rider to be DNS'd due to COVID-19 on stage 10, following TeamBikeExchange-Jayco's announcement of Luke Durbridge's retirement on Tuesday.

In a brief statement to the press on Tuesday morning, UAE Team Emirates said, "Sadly, our rider, George Bennett, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to continue in the Tour de France."

"On Monday he was tested according to team protocol and tested positive. This was confirmed by PCR testing.

Adrian Rotunno, the team's medical director, said, "On Monday night, George showed some symptoms and was tested for Covid-19 according to our protocol and tested positive. Therefore, he will not be available today.

Bennett's absence leaves the UAE Team Emirates with five support riders. This will be a big blow to his climbing support.

As part of UCI protocols to limit the impact of the pandemic, all Tour de France riders were tested for COVID-19 late Sunday night and were in good health.

On Monday afternoon, Pogacar told reporters that any rider with a high viral load should go home.

"If you're positive and you're above the threshold, 33 points or something, that means you're really contagious and that's not good for your teammates and staff," he insisted. 'The group is in close contact with us all the time, so if you're positive it's best to go home. It is not safe for the other athletes, regardless of whether they have the yellow jersey or not. Especially since we race every day in these tough conditions.

Earlier this weekend, Rotunno told Cycling News and other reporters that UAE Team Emirates had further strengthened the COVID-19 measures and protocols already in place from 2020.