Tom Pidcock pulls out of Tour due to Covid; Geraint Thomas continued in the race

The British cyclist Tom Pidcock (Ineos) has yet to start the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France which is disputed between Pau and Saint-Lary-Soulan-Pla D’Adet affected by “Covid symptoms”, according to his team.

Pidcock (Leeds, 24 years old), is not leaving the stage because he is “experiencing symptoms of Covid-19”, so according to medical advice, he will now go home to recover.

It’s a big loss for the team led by Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez in a weekend marked by mountain stages in the Pyrenees, but Tom Pidcock must also defend his title as Olympic mountain bike champion in the upcoming Paris Games.

Pidcock arrived 55 seconds behind Friday’s stage winner in Pau, and, overall, he was in 36th place by over 55 minutes.

Cyclo-cross World Champion in 2022 and Olympian in Tokyo 2021, Pidcock has notable achievements such as the Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche and a stage of the Tour de France achieved in Alpe D’Huez in 2022.

For his part, Geraint Thomas (Ineos), winner of the 2018 Tour, has already started even given the result of the covid test.

Unlike his teammate Tom Pidcock, the Welsh cyclist decided to try his luck on the first day of the Pyrenean.

“I’m also not feeling well and I tested positive for Covid. I have mild symptoms, headache and nasal congestion, but I’m following the team’s protocol and the doctor is following me. Let’s see how the stage goes,” Thomas Paul said at the beginning.

Thomas (Cardiff, 38 years old), faced his thirteenth participation in the Tour, and occupied all the podium positions. First in 2018, second in 2019 and third in 2021.

“In normal life it’s not something that stops you, but we’re doing the Tour,” Thomas said before the start.