Delayed but alive
again and out on French roads, the strangest Tour de France ever set off
Saturday in a bubble of anti-COVID protocols to try to keep the 176
riders virus-free for three weeks of racing through the country’s
worsening epidemic.
Read more:
Late but still going: The strangest Tour de France sets off
Only
after riders peeled off their face masks and pedaled off from the start
in the Mediterranean city of Nice, serenaded by a uniformed band
playing “La Marseillaise,” did the Tour begin to look like its old,
pre-COVID self, immediately delivering thrills and spills as storms made
the roads as slippy as ice.
But
with fans kept firmly at arm’s length, told by the government that it
was best to stay home and watch the racing on television, the Tour lost
much of its festive atmosphere. There was very little of the usual
up-close communing between athletes and their adoring public that made
the venerable 117-year-old rolling roadshow unique among sports events
in more carefree times.
Read more:
Late but still going: The strangest Tour de France sets off
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