Tour de France (opens in new tab) director Christian Prudhomme confirmed that all teams will be excluded from the race if two riders or staff test positive for COVID-19 in the same seven-day period.

This "two strikes, team exclusion rule" had been confirmed last week, but was relaxed by the UCI on Friday to cover only positive cases in riders, following a series of meetings between teams, the UCI, and ASO in preparation for the Tour.

However, the ruling was restored to its original wording after the French government's Coronavirus Pandemic Task Force went to arbitration late Friday in response to rising infection levels in France.

This means that if two members of the "bubble" of 30 players and staff test positive for COVID-19 within seven days, the team will be excluded from the Tour.

Prudhomme told AFP on Saturday (opens in new tab) that "we are leaving the case of two of the 30 members of the same team for seven days," adding that "the decision was made by the inter-ministerial crisis management unit."

The news comes hours before the 2020 Tour opens in Nice and two days after the Lotto-Soudal staff was detected with COVID-19 in the final PCR test before the race. One staff member tested positive and the other "not negative," according to the Belgian team. It is not known if any cases were identified in which the free second test was not negative.

Lot Soudal sent two staff members and a roommate home from the race, but believes they will be able to compete in the Tour de France.

CyclingNews contacted the UCI and asked for clarification of Lotto Soudal's status at the 2020 Tour.

The "Team Bubble" at the 2020 Tour will consist of riders and staff, up to 30 in total. All members of the bubble must be free of COVID-19 symptoms, must avoid contact with the public, and must follow a set of protocols including wearing masks and washing hands.

Riders must show a negative PCR test twice in order to compete in the 2020 Tour. Riders and staff must also be tested on the two rest days of the Tour (September 7 and September 14), and members of the team's Tour bubble must also complete a daily health questionnaire.

In response to concerns about false positives in COVID-19, the UCI confirmed on Friday that any positive results must be confirmed by a secondary test whenever possible before race organizers announce a full team withdrawal.

In France, the number of new COVID-19 cases reached a post-lockdown high of 7,379 on Friday. The daily high during the lockdown was 7,578 on March 31. French President Emmanuel Macron had previously dismissed the idea of a second lockdown, but did not rule it out Friday as the number of infected people increased.

"We must do everything to avoid it, but this virus keeps surprising us," Macron said.

With the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture classified as a COVID-19 red zone, Nice's Grande Pearl will be held with a reduced crowd on Saturday.