109th Tour of France - Next corona case at the Tour: Martin has to drop out

Martin was in a promising position in 14th place overall. "We're not the only team in this situation. You can only do what you can to protect yourself. I think we did that well. That's just bad luck," Walscheid told the German Press Agency before the start of the ninth stage and added: "It's a bit of a bummer because we all prepare so meticulously and the race is just so big and so tough. It simply can't be changed. Unfortunately, that's part of it now, we have to deal with it."

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Corona tests after the ninth stage of the Tour de France

Walscheid is expecting more cases. After the ninth stage, all riders will have their first mandatory coronavirus tests since the start of the Tour in Copenhagen. Another corona test will then follow on the last rest day. However, many teams test voluntarily in order to recognise illnesses in good time.

• All corona tests negative on the first rest day

On Saturday morning the Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen was already in the race, UAEteam-mate of Tadej Pogacar, and Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard from the team AG2R tested positive. Before the start of the Tour, six pros had to withdraw due to corona, after which the world's biggest cycling race remained quiet for a long time.

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In addition to Martin, Denmark's Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) due to knee problems and Portugal's Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education EasyPost) withdrew from the race due to illness. However, Guerreiro is not a coronavirus case, as Team EF made clear.

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