Thibaut Pinot (opens in new tab) expressed relief that the postponed Tour de France (opens in new tab) date has been set, but in a long interview with the French newspaper L'Equipe (opens in new tab), during the coronavirus outbreak outlined the complexities of trying to organize a race.

Pino has seen the effects of the COVID-19 (open in new tab) virus up close. His parents were diagnosed with COVID-19 almost three weeks ago, and he has witnessed the highly infectious nature of the coronavirus in his birthplace of Mercy, near Vosges. [My parents were affected at the same time and both are still ill more than 20 days after the illness.

"Two neighbors near my house were also infected. A quarter of the village with a population of 2,000 is affected, so when I go out shopping I have to pray that I don't get it."

Pinot's father, the mayor of the village of Merizee, became ill a few days after his re-election in late March, and his mother, a nurse, was diagnosed with COVID-19 four days later. The father was hospitalized for treatment last week, but was later discharged.

"It was hard when my father was taken to the hospital after being sick for over 20 days. Even with the doors locked, I lived with the stress of my parents' health," said Pino, who lives in the neighborhood.

"Every day I tried to see their faces through their windows; for three weeks I brought them bread and newspapers. I received their news from their windows. When the illness was at its worst, in the morning I always worried that I had bad news at night, and I stressed when I went to their house. I waited in front of their window and was relieved when they showed up."

With all public gatherings banned in France until at least mid-July, ASO was forced to confirm the postponement of the Tour de France last week. Paris-Nice will be the last major event, and all racing will be suspended until at least July.

With French riders unable to train outdoors due to the blockade on French soil, Pinot was initially concerned about his ability to race the Tour in July; the two-month delay means that the blockade will not unduly affect his preparations if he finishes as scheduled on May 11, he He says.

"It's a relief to think about the door closure. The further away the tools are, the better. It relieves some kind of pressure," said Pinot, who envisioned staying in France and riding the Tour de l'Ain and Criterium du Dauphiné before La Grande Boucle.

Pinot acknowledged that group training camps are effectively ruled out by social distance protocols, while travel restrictions make a high-altitude camp before the Tour unlikely.

"I'm still not convinced about altitude; we're going to do a similar build-up to the 2018 Vuelta. We are going to depart from that model," Pinot said.

"After the Giro, where I ended up hospitalized, I took over three weeks off the bike, finishing third in the Tour de Pollogne at the end of July. He then won two stages in the Vuelta.

However, it remains to be seen whether any social distance adjustment plan will adequately ensure the safety of riders, caravans, and the public at the Tour de France in September.

"Besides those of us on the bikes, there will be masks for all staff and followers of the Tour. Everyone will be tested before the race to find out if they have the virus. Rules will be in place and that is normal. But to guarantee 100% is complicated. Look at the Charles de Gaulle carrier, 1,000 out of 2,000 were positive. Says Pino.

"In the peloton, breathing gets rough, phlegm gets stuck in your face and a lot of players cough... In the UAE tour, they got through it fine and didn't have that many infected, but it's worrisome."

Like Nance Peters and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Pinot also noted that anti-doping efforts have virtually stopped during the coronavirus outbreak, and that he has not received out-of-competition controls since October.

"That was a long time ago and is not good news for athletes trying to do well, so hopefully it will resume again. Hopefully soon the controls will be reopened and we will be able to start properly."