The Tour de France peloton was declared COVID-free on Monday, with race leader Tadej Pogačar and the rest of the riders all returning negative results in rest day testing.
The UCI announced that "All tests were negative" in a brief announcement on Monday morning after a series of reports concerning the leading teams.
Although Pogačar lost UAE Team Emirates teammate Vegard Stake Laengen to a positive COVID-19 test on Friday, Sunday's results mean the Slovenian has six remaining teammates to continue on stage 10 of the Tour de France from Morzine to Megeve on Tuesday.
Likewise, Jumbo-Visma remain at full strength with their leaders Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič, as do Ineos Grenadiers with Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates.
All riders were sampled using rapid antigen tests, with new guidelines for Grand Tours stating that a PCR test should be carried out in the event of a positive antigen test to confirm the result.
The all-negative outcome will be met with a sigh of relief from teams and from race organisers ASO, as all riders who finished stage 9 can continue into the second week.
ASO will complete the rest day round of testing with rapid tests for team staff, race officials and key race staff due in Morzine on Monday. A number of teams have already sent home staff members in the race bubble after they tested positive.
Positive cases during the race have so far have included Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën), Stake Laengen, numerous members of the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl staff, Cofidis climber Guillaume Martin, and also a member of the Netflix filming crew following Ineos Grenadiers.
Stage 9 winner Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroën) was allowed to start the Tour de France while positive due to a low viral load, while Martin was not allowed to continue on Sunday after he tested positive and was deemed to have a higher viral load, making him contagious and a risk to others in the race bubble.
