The UCI has released an update to its COVID-19 health protocol ahead of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia Donnay, and Tour de France Femme, and in response to the recent outbreak at the Tour de Suisse and the increase in virus cases across Europe.

The new protocol, developed by UCI Medical Director Professor Xavier Bigard in collaboration with riders, teams, team doctors, and race organizer representatives, mandates pre-race testing for races longer than seven days and reinstates rest day testing in the Grand Tours.

However, multiple positive tests during a race will not automatically exclude a team, as was the case in 2020. [Also, COVID-19 antigen testing is mandatory not only for team members, but also for UCI commissaires, UCI technical delegates, and anti-doping control personnel.

The UCI considers false positives in antigen testing by requiring confirmation by PCR. The decision as to whether a case of COVID-19 on a team may be isolated after confirmation by antigen testing and then by PCR testing, based on available clinical factors, will be made by the team doctor concerned, the doctor in charge of COVID-19 for the competition concerned, and the UCI Medical Doctor shall collectively make the decision.

Athletes who test positive for PCR during the course of a stage race will be "excluded from the competition" according to the new protocol.

Perhaps the most notable section of the new protocol is that if a team tests positive for COVID-19 more than once during the race, the organizers will not cancel the team's entry as in the past.

In other words, the new protocol means an end to the spectacle of teams withdrawing en masse due to COVID-19 positives within a team.

In addition, "strongly recommended measures" include daily antigen testing for all riders and staff, and "daily if possible, at least every two or three days" for team members, UCI commissaires, UCI technical delegates, and anti-doping control personnel during the competition.

It includes antigen testing performed "daily, if possible, and at least every two to three days.

"In view of the evolving international health situation and on the eve of the Tour de France, it has become necessary to strengthen effective measures to ensure the successful organization of cycling events on our international calendar and to protect the health of those participating in the races," UCI President David Lapartiento said. [Even if the pandemic situation we are currently experiencing is less alarming than what we saw in the midst of the health crisis, we must remain vigilant. With this in mind, I call on all stakeholders to continue to meticulously respect all provisions of our health code.

"This discipline and solidarity has enabled us to sustain our activities over the past two years and will enable us to cope should the pandemic worsen in the future."