Morkov Isolated After Moving from UAE Tour to Track World Championships in Berlin

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Morkov Isolated After Moving from UAE Tour to Track World Championships in Berlin

Michal Morkov is sequestered in a Berlin hotel room after moving from the UAE Tour to the Truck World Championships.

The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider did not start Thursday's fifth stage of the UAE Tour and moved to Germany as part of an agreed-upon race schedule to represent Denmark in Madison on Sunday with Lasse Norman Hansen.

Morkov arrived in Berlin before news of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-19 outbreak in the UAE Tour was confirmed.

The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two Italian staff members of participating teams were confirmed positive for the virus; all UAE riders, team staff, media, and race staff are being tested for SARS-CoV-19, with the first results due Friday The first results are expected on Friday afternoon.

According to Danish media reports that spoke to Morkov, he too will be tested on Friday.

"When I woke up, the panic was beginning to spread. Overnight, everyone in the UAE was being tested. So I decided to stay in my room and wait, along with the country's national coach, Casper Jorgensen," Morkov told Danish television station TV2.

"Now they want me to come in for tests so that hopefully I can continue with a negative result. There is no major impact today. Maybe I should have gone to a little bit of circuit training, but other than that it was a quiet day. So it's good to be here and not be in contact with anyone else in case it turns out to be a career."

"The UCI race doctor called me and asked how I was feeling. I'm 100% healthy. I'm in good health, no symptoms at all," Morkov told Ekstra Bladet.

Martin Elberg-Petersen, director of the Danish Cycling Federation, confirmed that Morkov is currently in good health.

"He is fine and says it is strange that he has to sit there alone when he is actually feeling great," Elleberg Petersen told Ekstra Bladet.

"For safety reasons he has been kept away from the other athletes and will not eat with them at the hotel; we are awaiting a decision from the authorities, including the UCI, the World Championships organizers, and the German health authorities."

It is unclear whether Morkov will be able to compete in the trackwork championships, but he is ready to do so.

"If we somehow come to a definite conclusion today, I will probably be 100% ready to run on Sunday. But if nothing happens today and we go into tomorrow, it is clear that time will run out in the middle of tomorrow."

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