MADRID, Sep. 2 (.) –
The Spanish cyclist Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) was able to take the start of the thirteenth stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a España this Friday despite having tested positive for COVID-19 and after receiving the approval of both the UCI and Unipublic, organizer of the career.
“Juan Ayuso has tested positive for COVID-19, but he will continue in La Vuelta 2022. He is asymptomatic and when analyzing his PCR it was found that he had a very low risk of contagion, similar to cases like the ones we saw in the Tour de France this year”, explained the UAE in its official ‘Twitter’ profile.
The team led by Josean Fernández ‘Matxin’ recalled that they made this decision to keep the 19-year-old in the race “in consultation with the medical representatives of the race organization and the UCI.”
“We are aware of Juan’s clinical picture and we are closely following his situation,” said the UAE about the state of health of the Spaniard, fifth in the general classification at 4:53 behind the leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).
Before the start of the thirteenth stage of La Vuelta, Ayuso confessed to the media that he was feeling “great” and that the positive had been “a surprise” because the day he was “really bad” was the time trial on Tuesday. “I took three tests and all three were negative despite the fact that I had many symptoms and quite a headache,” he told the media.
“But since the day before yesterday I have been perfectly and without any problem, and yesterday I was at a good level, I swam out of the ordinary, so I am happy to be able to continue and now I have to try not to affect my performance”, added the Spaniard, who The virus “with more serious symptoms” already passed at the beginning of the season and now has “extreme precautions to protect colleagues in case there may be a problem.”
