The fear of the COVID-19 virus, which has once again begun to spread across Europe this summer, is casting an alarming shadow over the Tour de France Grand Depart Denmark.

While the peloton was devastated by a mass outbreak and breakaway at the recent Tour de Suisse, the impact of COVID-19 has continued into this week's Tour, with Groupama-FDJ's Thibaut Pinot, EF Education-EasyPost's Many riders, including Stefan Bissegger, are recovering on the last day before the race starts.

On Tuesday, Quick Step-Alfavinir was forced to use Florian Seneschal in place of Belgian Tim Declercq, and on Wednesday morning, UAE Team Emirates called up Marc Hirschi after Matteo Trentin tested positive.

Bob Jungels of AG2R Citroen had to wait nervously after he tested positive for COVID-19 during Wednesday's pre-race testing. According to team doctor Serge Niamke, his participation in the 2022 Tour will depend on whether Thursday's retest detects "a small amount of the virus. "AG2R Citroën has announced that if Jungels tests positive, it will give a last call to Greg Van Avermaet

On Tuesday, the company said that it will call on Greg Van Avermaat.

In accordance with the UCI's COVID-19 protocol released Tuesday, riders and staff must test negative for antigens two days before the start of the Tour.

Alarm bells went off within the Dutch team on Wednesday morning when Merijn Zeeman, Jumbo-Visma's sporting director, revealed that he had tested positive. Fortunately, all players tested negative.

"It's nothing new, we've been experiencing this for the last two years," Jumbo-Visma leader Wout Van Aert said Wednesday of the protocol and the string of cases.

"Within the team, there is no big difference from the feelings we have had for the last few years. Of course, people are worried again because what happened in Switzerland is in the news.

"We have never released all restrictions. We are all healthy. We are doing everything we can to keep it that way and hopefully soon we will be able to focus on the race."

Ineos Grenadiers GC contender Geraint Thomas said the UCI's change to the COVID-19 protocol was a constructive move, noting that two positive tests in a team no longer required the entire team to leave the race.

"The main thing is that if a team has two positive tests, they can still compete," he said. That's the biggest advantage. It's less stressful for the team. Imagine having a jersey. It's nice to have that go away [Personally, I'm pretty relaxed. That's the reality. It's the world we live in. Especially with the boosters and everything, it seems to be less life-threatening. It's a good thing."

In Wednesday's final official test, Astana Kazakstan called up Aleksandr Liabushenko in place of COVID-19 positive Samuele Battistella.

Israel Premier Tech also made a roster reshuffle, with Omer Goldstein being deemed "high-risk close contact" while traveling to Denmark.

Guillaume Boivin has been called up, and a decision on Daryl Impey's availability will be made Thursday morning. Impey, a South African native, has not yet joined Team Babble and was absent from the team presentation in Tivoli. Team sports manager Rick Verbrugghe also tested positive during the trip to Denmark.

At a pre-race press conference, Ineos Grenadiers co-leader Adam Yates admitted that he contracted the virus at the Tour de Suisse and that it had a significant impact on his preparation for the Tour.

He said that the opening time trial would give him an idea of how he was feeling, adding, "Of course I'm better now, but to be honest I was pretty bad for three or four days.

"Had fever and chills. I also missed an important stage in Switzerland. I was waiting for the weekend to do a real test.

Yates was one of many riders, along with Ineos teammate Tom Pidcock, to catch COVID-19 in Switzerland. The same GC contender, Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), left the race after contracting the virus while running first overall; the EF Education-Easy Post trio of Stefan Bissegger, Rigoberto Uran, and Albert Bettiol also tested positive during the race. reaction. They all recovered negative in the final test and will be able to start the Tour de France on Friday.