Tadei Pogachal revealed on his personal website (opens in new tab) that he and his UAE Team Emirates teammates have been quarantined in the UAE The 21-year-old Pogachal has been housed in a hotel with fellow racers and staff since the end of the UAE tour on February 27.

The team had initially stayed in the country voluntarily as a precautionary measure after two members of the race entourage tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Although not confirmed, it is believed that two UAE Team Emirates staff members were positive, and team sprinter Fernando Gaviria is suspected to have been one of the four athletes who subsequently contracted the virus in the race.

Pogachar, who won the final stage at Jebel Hafit, wrote of the chaotic situation in the early stages of the outbreak: "I was in the middle of the race, and I had no idea what was going on. After several days of testing, most teams were allowed to leave the country, with the exception of Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, Gazprom-RusVelo, and UAE Team Emirates.

"Today, March 9, 2020, will be the 11th day I have been locked in "my" hotel room. I share the room with my teammate Eric Bystrom, so it's not just me," Pogachar wrote. Who would have thought that things could get so complicated," Nobody. Now, let's take it step by step. The goal and purpose of all this was a stage race across the UAE. After the awards ceremony [for stage 5], we were transferred to a hotel in Abu Dhabi. Two members of the caravan fell ill and tested positive for coronavirus.

"Because of this, the last two stages were cancelled in the morning. We were locked in the hotel and not allowed to leave our rooms until things calmed down and until everyone in the hotel was tested for the virus.

"We received no real information and very little notification. On Friday, we did not get on the sixth floor and remained in our room, taking samples during the day.

Pogachal and his roommate tested negative for the virus twice, but six more tested positive in the race, and a 14-day quarantine was agreed upon.

Tuesday marks Pogachar's 11th day, and he admits that conditions at the hotel have made the quarantine somewhat easier.

"Today is my 11th day 'locked' in a hotel room. We are on the first floor of the Yas Marina Hotel, and fortunately, this is a higher category hotel, so our room is a bit more spacious." The room also has a fairly large balcony, which makes life a little easier, at least in this aspect."

"The hotel takes good care of us and the food is fantastic. They just bring it in plastic and put a ring on it and leave it at the door.

"We have a training machine in our room so we try to work out a bit. Of course, we also have TV, internet, Netflix, and Playstation, so at least we have something to do to pass the time.

"I just hope everything goes as planned and I can get home next weekend."

Pogachar, who finished second overall in this race, was only prophetic about what will happen in the European spring race season, which has already been cancelled due to the virus, including Strada Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milano-San Remo.

"It is difficult to say what will happen to the races. As you can see, the situation changes day by day, hour by hour. At the moment, the situation is getting worse, with races being cancelled and teams like ours having to give up their participation for a while. We can only hope that the situation will stabilize as soon as possible and things will gradually return to normal.

"For more information about the race, please visit ...... The race ended with stage 5 and my victory. Overall, he was second.