(Paris) One step from the goal, half of the Canadian contingent at the Tour de France did not see the Champs-Élysées on Sunday evening.
Guillaume Boivin, ill, and Michael Woods, positive for COVID-19, had to withdraw a few hours before the start of the 21e and last stage, largely ceremonial.
Sick since the day before, Woods received a positive result for a coronavirus test in the morning. Not feeling well either, Boivin, his Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) teammate, withdrew as a precaution, even though his antigen test turned out to be negative.
“It was the best decision to make with Mike who tested positive,” said Boivin, his voice muted, in a telephone interview. “I didn’t feel too much this morning. »
(function () {
var slotName = “ad62deba61dbfe2-adSlotLppos”;
var dimensions = [“fluid”,[634,125],[634,150],[634,180],[634,200],[634,634],[634,400],[640,360],[640,480],[728,200]];
var positionName = null;
var pageBlock = “text”;
positionName = “pos0″;
var adUnitPath=”/” + [
nuglif.ngApp.globals.network,
nuglif.ngApp.globals.topLevelAdUnit,
nuglif.ngApp.globals.adUnit
].join(‘/’);
LPAds.createAdSpot(slotName, adUnitPath, pageBlock, positionName, dimensions);
LPAds.registerSpotReceived(slotName, function (slotData) {
if (slotData) {
if (LPAds.isProductGalleryAd(slotData.creativeTemplateId)) {
console.debug(‘Ads: Product gallery detected for ‘ + slotName);
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.maxWidth=”728px”;
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.width=”100%”;
} else if (LPAds.isNativeAd(slotData.creativeTemplateId) ) {
console.debug(‘Ads: Native Ad detected for ‘ + slotName);
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.width=”100%”;
}
}
});
LPAds.displayAdSpot(slotName);
})()
After a painful second Tour, the cyclist from Longueuil had to find his girlfriend and his parents who had come to watch the race.
It is not the funbut the season is long and you have to recover as quickly as possible for the next races.
Guillaume Boivin
Boivin had no particular symptoms. “I felt a little weird and didn’t sleep too well. »
The 33-year-old athlete was encouraged by a final week where he felt better. In an interview the day before, he said he was “extremely motivated” by the end of the season. “It’s boring, but it’s not the end of the world either. I just hope to feel better soon. »
Woods seemed more downcast. ” [Je suis] disgusted, ”he wrote on his Twitter message, relaying the info broadcast by his Israel-Premier Tech team confirming his withdrawal.
$.getJSON(‘https://publish.twitter.com/oembed?url=https://twitter.com/rusty_woods/status/1551142799772368896&output=jsonp&callback=?’,
function(data) {
$(“#62deba61dc0be”).html(data.html);
}
);
Despite being ill, the 35-year-old raced in the ultimate time trial in Rocamadour, where he finished 128e Saturday. In the evening, in Orléans, the one who occupied number 36e rank in the general classification had to decline a request for an interview with The Press since he had to stay in solitary confinement. Until then, the screening tests had turned out to be negative.
In the absence of Woods and Boivin, their teammate Hugo Houle and Antoine Duchesne, of Groupama-FDJ, were therefore the only Canadians to complete this historic Tour. Never had Canada had so many starters at the start.
IPT was only represented by three riders for this 21e 115.6 km stage which, as tradition dictates, served as a parade for the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) before a mass sprint on the Champs-Élysées.
In addition to Houle, the Israeli Guy Niv and the Latvian Krists Neilands set off for the Israeli-Canadian formation on Sunday afternoon at Paris La Défense Arena.
Chris Froome and stage winner Simon Clarke also had to retire due to COVID-19. Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang fractured a rib in a fall in the 15the stage.
Last year, Woods left his first Tour at the end of the 18e stage to prepare for the road event at the Tokyo Olympics, where he placed 5the. The climber fell on the ninth stage this year, which slowed him down considerably thereafter. He picked up the slack in the final week, finishing third in the 16e stage won by his teammate Hugo Houle.
(function () {
var slotName = “ad62deba61dc111-adSlotLppos”;
var dimensions = [“fluid”,[634,125],[634,150],[634,180],[634,200],[634,634],[634,400],[640,360],[640,480],[728,200]];
var positionName = null;
var pageBlock = “text”;
positionName = “pos1″;
var adUnitPath=”/” + [
nuglif.ngApp.globals.network,
nuglif.ngApp.globals.topLevelAdUnit,
nuglif.ngApp.globals.adUnit
].join(‘/’);
LPAds.createAdSpot(slotName, adUnitPath, pageBlock, positionName, dimensions);
LPAds.registerSpotReceived(slotName, function (slotData) {
if (slotData) {
if (LPAds.isProductGalleryAd(slotData.creativeTemplateId)) {
console.debug(‘Ads: Product gallery detected for ‘ + slotName);
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.maxWidth=”728px”;
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.width=”100%”;
} else if (LPAds.isNativeAd(slotData.creativeTemplateId) ) {
console.debug(‘Ads: Native Ad detected for ‘ + slotName);
document.getElementById(slotName).parentElement.style.width=”100%”;
}
}
});
LPAds.displayAdSpot(slotName);
})()
