The coronavirus outbreak edition of the Tour de France (open in new tab) has survived its first rest day despite a new increase in COVID-19 cases in France and a somewhat alarming number of spectators on the Pyrenees climb over the weekend.

As planned, a "bubble" test for riders and staff will take place on Monday for the first time since the double test in Nice before the first stage.

The rules of the Tour will be changed before the start, and if two of the riders and staff test positive, the team will be banned from the race. Future PCR tests will be nerve-wracking, as this could be a major blow to the team.

Testing will begin on Sunday night and conclude on Monday. Results will be announced on Tuesday morning, before the start of the 10th stage.

There have been several false positives (open in new tab) in the peloton in recent weeks, raising concerns that teams that later test negative may be banned from the Tour.

Tour officials will conduct a follow-up analysis of the positives to confirm the initial results, according to the Belga news agency; the PCR test takes two hours to produce results, so athletes should be able to start Tuesday's 10th stage even if they have to be retested.

"It could have a big impact on the whole process," Jonathan Vaughters, manager of EF Pro Cycling (open in new tab), told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

"There are so many open questions. It's staggeringly complex and unnerving."

In the days leading up to the Tour, two of Lot Soudal's staff members were sent home after tests were not negative (opens in new tab). On Monday, the team was retested, but the results were all negative.

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme said before the race started that there are no rules on when the race must be stopped if COVID-19 enters a "bubble." Nor is there a plan as to at what point a valid winner will be declared if the race is interrupted before Paris.

"Everyone is racing like it's a three-week race, and I just hope it's not nine days," Vaughters told The Wall Street Journal.

"I'm really worried about it, but I try not to think about it on a daily basis.

Prudhomme received support from French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Saturday, who praised the large crowd and the organization's efforts to protect the race from the potential spread of COVID-19.

The move came despite Movistar's Twitter complaint about the lack of masks worn by fans at the Peyresourde pass. Prudhomme told Het Laatste Nieuws that "95 percent of the fans respect the Tour and wear masks."

France took measures to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the cause of COVID-19, bringing the R value (the average number of infected people transmitting the virus) below 1 in May and sparking hopes that the pandemic would end there. However, with the influx of tourists and the reopening of schools and businesses, the R-value has doubled in recent weeks, leading to a surge in new cases of infection.