Israel-Premier Tech will not be participating in the Tour of Flanders due to multiple cases of COVID-19 and injuries. In light of these events, they have announced that they will not be participating in the upcoming event. On Friday, the team considered that almost everyone might have come into contact with the two team members that tested positive for COVID-19. When combined with the cases of injuries and illness, it was a prominent decision that they will be dropping out of the Tour immediately.
News: Israel – Premier Tech to miss Ronde van Vlaanderen
Israel – Premier Tech team management have made the difficult decision to withdraw the team from Ronde van Vlaanderen this Sunday for medical reasons.
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— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) April 1, 2022
Even at At Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen we saw Israel-Premier Tech at very low strength, they started the race with just thee riders. The team’s cobbled Classic leader described being in the team as being at a “Funeral” which means it was quiet, sad, and depressing. This is not all though, Israel-Premier Tech will also be missing out on Scheldeprijs.
Team Manager Kjell Carlström said:
This is a very regrettable situation and we are extremely disappointed to have to withdraw from Ronde van Vlaanderen.
This decision has not been taken lightly but we feel this is our only option at this stage. It is no secret we have had Covid-19 and other illness and crash-induced injuries wiping out the majority of our riders at one stage or another in recent weeks.
Right now, we have very few healthy riders who could take to the start line. But they are now close contacts, and it is out of respect for the race and the rest of the peloton that we are taking this decision. It is our duty of care towards the other teams to not be willingly sending riders who have been exposed to COVID-19 into a race.
By withdrawing from the race, we are allowing our cobbled classics riders to recover and hit the reset button. No one is more disappointed than us but hopefully, this decision will allow us to save the remainder of the spring season and get back on track.
Israel-Premier Tech is not the only team that will be withdrawing from the Tour of Flanders. Many cyclists including Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) will not be participating in the event. Catch all the latest updates here!
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Also Read: Tadej Pogacar Bears The Cost Of Inexperience At Dwars Door Vlaanderen
Featured Image Via Instagram/israelpremiertech
