Vuelta a España race director Javier Guillén downplayed concerns about the spate of COVID-19 cases, in which 21 riders contracted the virus and abandoned in the first half of the race.

Simon Yates (Bike Exchange Jayco), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), and the Kern Farma trio of Roger Adrià, Pau Miquel, and Ector Carretero, who before the start of stage 12 at the El Pozo meat factory, COVID -19 and were the latest to leave the Vuelta. At the finish of Cabo de Gata, Guillén appeared on TVE's post-stage discussion program to complain about the high number of COVID-19 cases in the race.

"There is no medical situation happening," Guigen said. 'I am the director of the Vuelta a España and we are experiencing COVID patients. I adhere to medical standards and I don't know what will happen, but what I do know and understand is that there is no general concern."

The UCI coronavirus protocol requires that athletes undergo mandatory testing before the Vuelta begins and on rest days, but the teams themselves conduct regular antigen testing to maintain the bubble. Said Gijen, "The teams have no further obligations, but they do it."

Earlier Wednesday, Mayo Rojo's Remco Evenepoel suggested that the organization might push to limit the number of spectators at the finish. Shortly thereafter, the Vuelta announced that media access to the team paddock before and after the stage would be banned. Previously, access had been allowed to journalists who tested negative for antigens on Vuelta rest days.

"We knew there would be COVID cases because of all the races, but probably more," Guillén said. 'There are a lot of asymptomatic cases, some very mild. The team is doing a lot of testing, which is producing positive results. Hopefully this situation will improve."

Juanjo Oros, Khan Pharma's sport director, expressed frustration that two of the three riders who are leaving did not show symptoms of COVID-19.

"Inwardly I feel it's unfair," Oros told Cadena SER. 'The world has normalized COVID, and cycling has had to do the same. I want to slam my fist on the table and say, "What is this?" I want to say."

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates director Maxine Joxean Fernandez revealed that Juan Ayuso was sick with symptoms after the stage 10 time trial in Alicante, but the Spaniard had no more than four tests conducted between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning of antigen tests were negative.

Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroen) and Rafal Mayka (UAE Team Emirates) tested positive for COVID-19 at last month's Tour de France, but were allowed to remain in the race after their viral levels were deemed too low. Guillen suggested that some of the riders who left the Vuelta with COVID-19 might have been able to continue racing if their PCR tests had been analyzed in time.

"If you test positive for antigen, the right thing to do is to do a PCR; if [the PCR test] shows a low viral load, you can race," Guillen said.

"The problem is that if you test positive in the morning, you don't have time to do the PCR before you go to the start, and the UCI probably isn't ready to admit that yet."