Tour de France: Race director Christian Prudhomme tests positive for coronavirus as all teams cleared to continue

Race director adds to four positive Covid-19 tests from the first day of mass testing , but all riders return negative results to ensure Tour continues as planned

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme has tested positive for coronavirus (AP)

All 22 teams have been cleared to start stage 10 of the Tour de France despite four positive coronavirus test results being returned on the first official rest day, one of which was provided by race director Christian Prudhomme.

Race organisers the ASO confirmed in a joint-statement with governing body the UCI that although every rider tested negative for Covid-19, four positive results were returned from individuals who are now self-isolating.

It was then revealed in a second release that Prudhomme has also tested positive, with the 59-year-old having led calls this year for fans to ensure they wear masks and keep their distance from riders as they make their way along the roads.

With Prudhomme set to remain absent from the tour for at least a week, he will be replaced in the race director’s car by Francois Lemarchand.

“I’m leaving the Tour for eight days,” Prudhomme told AFP. “I’m going to do what any French employee would do in this kind of case.

“From the information I’ve been given, it’s just happened. I’m going to watch the Tour on television, something I haven’t done for 15 years."

Prudhomme added that he tested negative for coronavirus before the Tour began on 6, 20 and 27 August, and has been informed that he recently contracted the virus. He was joined on Saturday by French prime minister Jean Castex, who travelled with Prudhomme in the race director’s car during stage eight of the Tour.

The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced on the eve of the Tour that should two members of any team test positive for Covid-19, the entire outfit will be sent home - regardless of whether they were riders or not. But with the positive tests coming from separate teams, none of the 22 competing in this year’s event will be banned from the 10th stage, which runs along the Atlantic coast from Ile d'Oleron to Ile de Re.

It was confirmed that an individual from Ineos Grenadiers, Cofidis, AG2R La Mondiale, and Mitchelton-Scott had all tested positive and left the secure team bubble.

"No rider has tested positive for Covid-19 or is considered a contact case requiring quarantine," the release said.

It leaves defending champion Egan Bernal’s campaign to retain his title on a knife edge, with Ineos Grenadiers set to be sent him if another member of the team tests positive. Britain’s Adam Yates, who rode in the yellow jersey after a strong start to the Tour, is also in that camp, with one of his Mitchelton-Scott staff testing positive.

Reports earlier in the day claimed that a staff member from Deceuninck-Quickstep had tested positive for coronavirus, but the team issued a clarification to confirm that an inconclusive result had been produced and a retest was required, which returned negative.

A team statement read: "As you will have seen, it has been reported that a member of our team staff was collected from our team hotel this morning. An error was made in the laboratory with the sample that the individual gave yesterday, meaning they were taken for retesting this morning. The result of this second test has been returned as negative and we will continue to race as normal."