Patrick Lefevere: “Let what happened in tennis be a wake-up call for us”

Patrick Lefevere is concerned with how the cycling world will deal with the control of the corona virus. He points to tennis, where top player Novak Djokovic tested positive for corona. “My worst nightmare is that the races in July – like in tennis – lead to infections,” he writes in his column in Het Nieuwsblad.

The team boss of Deceuninck – Quick Step hopes that the events in tennis will lead to a wake-up call for cycling. “I still want to believe that Novak Djokovic has organized his demonstration tournaments with good intentions, but without precaution it will end badly,” he says.

“Let it be a lesson for all cycling races that will start again in July,” he continues. “They are now shooting up like mushrooms, but I hope that enough attention is paid to prevention,” says Lefevere. The internship of his own team in Kaster made him hopeful. “Our drivers are also young people who haven’t seen each other for a long time, but in the evening after dinner everyone went straight to their room. I have said it before: in the race, attention to hygiene and the risk of contamination is a kind of second nature. In tennis – with the richest sponsors in the world – you may think that you are quicker untouchable (untouchable, ed.). “

Few matches
Deceuninck – Quick Step chooses to drive few races in July. The team starts in the fair race in Rotselaar from sponsor Vermarc and is at the start of the Tour of Burgos with a selection. “By going on a collective internship, the entire team can remain in the same bubble. That seems to me to be the safest and certainly the most transparent approach. Other teams differentiate between different programs, we prefer to keep everyone together for the time being. We will also be testing regularly in the coming weeks, ”it sounds.

Lefevere is bothered by the fact that organizers now want to sit in the front row for a dime. “They all want Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe at the start. And yes, our drivers also like to race. But the sun rises for nothing. Then we prefer an internship in San Pellegrino, where the region does make a financial effort for the exposure that our stay offers them. ”

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