A mobile testing lab is essential to the success of cycling's third Grand Tour, race director Javier Guigen insisted Tuesday.

The lab was discreetly set up for three weeks this fall near the start and finish of the Vuelta a España stage and was able to produce as many as 1,000 PCR results daily. Gijen said, "We never reached that maximum, but thanks to this testing lab, we were able to respond to and tie up any potential suspicions."

"I don't understand how we could have held La Vuelta 2020 without that mobile lab," Gijen said at a media meeting organized by the news agency EuropaPress, explaining the complexity of holding a Grand Tour in steadily worsening pandemic conditions. He explained the complexity of holding a Grand Tour in steadily worsening pandemic conditions.

During the countdown to the October 20 start, rumors spread that the Vuelta a España might not take place. Italian media claimed that multiple positive cases at the Giro d'Italia and the retirement of two teams had raised concerns and put a question mark over the feasibility of the race in Spain.

The route of the Vuelta a España, which was shifted to late fall in a reorganization of the cycling calendar, was shortened to 18 days after the start in the Netherlands was canceled due to the pandemic.

The two-day incursion to Portugal was also changed to two tougher stages along the western Spanish outreach. And the toughest mountain stage of the race, to the Col du Tourmalet in France, was changed almost at the last minute to a less challenging summit finish to Formigal on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees.

The weather was always unstable in the Spanish autumn, and despite the risk of bad weather, the Vuelta arrived safely in Madrid in early November. As overall winner Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) himself said 24 hours before the finish, "Everything went well."

The Vuelta was a success.

Despite the advantage of being able to look at what had happened in previous WorldTour races during the pandemic and change protocols accordingly, Guillén revealed that the Vuelta was subject to unforeseen and unprecedented strains.

He said the decision to lower the 2020 World Tour calendar and finish in November was partially agreed to by Vuelta.

"But there was a third reason: when we decided on March, we thought we could get through the pandemic and be on the other side by the fall. In fact, the Vuelta was held in some of the worst conditions for a bike race."

On the plus side, the learning curve was helped greatly by the fact that top-level cycling restarted in Spain with the Vuelta a Burgos in early August, and that the Vuelta a España was part of the ASO stable of races, the organizers of the Tour de France. Another important cornerstone of the Vuelta's pandemic preparedness was the publication by the Spanish government and local authorities of detailed health protocols governing the high-level sporting event.

"It was the perfect guide," said Gijen, who thanked the public for paying attention to the campaign to "watch the Vuelta from home this year" and "stay away from the race paths." He said, "Telling people to stay away from the race was like a politician telling people not to vote on election day; it didn't seem to make sense, but we had no choice."

But he had even greater praise for his team. Several team members "spent up to four months away from home, isolated in a hotel in a race bubble. 0]

While recognizing that the race's financial resources took an important hit as a result of the pandemic's global consequences, Guillén said the cost of pandemic preparedness, including kilometers of additional fencing, 35,000 face masks, a PCR mobile laboratory, and doubling the medical staff, added to Vuelta's He stated that they amounted to more than 6% of the budget. However, in an effort to cut costs, Unipublic has not made any staff redundant, he said.

The race was organized in a secure "bubble," with the summit finish off limits to the public and the hotel area securely cordoned off for the teams.

"The first stage was crucial. Because if it went well, everything else would fall into place. The result of the first rest day was also important because it confirmed that what I had done had worked. But in the last few days approaching Madrid, I was worried that I was getting too euphoric.

When Gidjen, an avid soccer fan and supporter of Atletico de Madrid, a soccer team famous for its roller-coaster record, received word from the UCI on his rest day that he had not tested positive up to that point, "It was as if Atletico It was as if Atletico had won the Champions League.

Although there were positive tests among the team staff before the Vuelta began in Irún, no riders tested positive during the race.

Asked about the multiple positive COVID-19 cases on the last day among Civil Guard police officers who were overseeing traffic and road safety during La Vuelta, Gijen said, "These tests were done outside the race and did not affect the safety foam. However, we will be meeting to investigate what happened, which is obviously regrettable."

Gijen also received praise from Irene Lozano, Spain's Minister of Sport, who had a meeting with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), which approved the protocol for safe sport in Spain.

"It was a very tough Vuelta," Guillén said. The COVID Vuelta had to tackle a very special enemy, not by confronting it directly, but by keeping as much distance as possible."

The date for the next presentation of the 2021 Vuelta a España has not yet been set, but it is likely to take place at the end of January or early February. However, Guillén was adamant that the race start in August as usual, rather than in the fall.

"Spain in October is not as severe weather-wise as people think, and summer is better," he insisted. But whether that mobile test lab will still be there next year remains to be seen.