In October, Quinten Hellmans won the Cyclocross World Cup on Sunday at the same Fayetteville, Arkansas course that hosts the UCI Cyclocross World Championships, but because he tested positive for COVID-19, he flew from Belgium to the US this week did not board the plane.

Hermans was devastated by the news of his exclusion, and in a virtual press conference with the media on Wednesday, he described how difficult the last few days had been, knowing that he would miss a great opportunity to compete for the rainbow jersey in the absence of cyclocross giants Mathieu van der Pol and Wout van Aert

"I slept.

"I had sleepless nights," Hellmans said. The last few days have been hell."

In the World Cup at Hogelheide on Sunday, Hellmans had the holeshot and was leading the race. The popular Tom Pidcock (GBR) split between him and European champion Lars van der Haar (NL), but lost contact when he crashed on a Dutchman who slipped in a corner. Hermans lost his chain and was out of the line of fire, but he was very strong in the first few laps.

After the race and before boarding the plane to Chicago, Hermans received test results for coronavirus, which were positive. Nevertheless, the test results showed that the infection had ended and he was expected to be able to travel to the United States later in the week.

"I wasn't really infected because the CT values on the test were already very high," Hellmans said.

The CT value is the number of cycles the PCR test takes to detect the virus. The more virus, the faster it is detected, and a high value means that the sample contains very little virus. However, the science behind the CT values had not yet been adopted by those implementing sanitation measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hellman's had no leverage.

"My doctor told me that by Tuesday or Wednesday I would have a 99 percent chance of being negative," Hellmans said. 'I still had a little hope that I might be able to make it to the US. I started training for the World Championships on Monday and Tuesday."

However, Belgian team coach Sven Vanthourenhout made it clear to the players, sporting director Bart Wellens, and manager Eike Visbeek that Hellmans could not travel to the US.

"There was little room for negotiation, since (the Belgian federation) follows the government's Corona measures. Therefore, I am no longer tested yesterday and today."

For the 26-year-old, who says he had no symptoms and was perfectly fine physically, the result is a disappointment and he doubts he will even be able to watch his compatriot compete.

"I will definitely not be watching the World Championships this weekend. It hurts me to think that I won't be there, and it's hard to see anything on social media about the World Cyclocross Championships. These may be the most difficult days of my career.

Although he is having a hard time accepting his exclusion from the race, Hellmans still wishes his teammates success.

"I hope they come home with the rainbow jersey. I have to progress a bit more to challenge Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van Der Pol, though."