The UCI updated its COVID-19 medical protocol at the last minute to avoid the risk of false positives and the expulsion of riders and teams in the Tour de France (opens in new tab) and other Grand Tours.

A series of apparent false positives had forced several riders and teams to miss races, and teams were concerned about the Tour de France rule that forces an entire team to abandon a race if two of its 30 riders or staff test positive.

A special investigation conducted by Laura Weislo (open in new tab) for Cycling News highlighted how false positives can occur and why follow-up testing is essential to eliminate them.

After a series of meetings between the UCI, the teams, and the Tour de France organizer ASO, the "two strikes, team out" rule was changed to only apply if two riders (not staff) tested positive within seven days.

If a race staff member tests positive (opens in new tab), as two Lotto-Soudal staff members did on Wednesday, the team can remain in the Tour de France.

The last-minute update to the medical protocol will allay fears that many teams, perhaps even race leaders and overall winners, will be banned from the Tour de France based on false positive cases of COVID-19 from a single test.

The UCI stipulated that positive cases must be confirmed by additional testing before race organizers can announce the withdrawal of all teams.

The UCI ordered Grand Tour race organizers to do "everything possible" to ensure that any positive test results are always followed up with complementary testing and serological analysis before the next day's stage start.

However, if the complementary tests are not done in time for the next day's stage, the athlete or staff member must leave the race, even if the result is a false positive.

The Tour de France organizers, ASO, set up mobile testing units during the race and will likely have to work through the night to complete complementary tests to avoid false positive cases being expelled from the race.

"The test results will be given out within a maximum of two hours, and in some cases within an hour. In any case, the results will not be available the next day, but very soon," race director Christian Prudhomme confided at a press conference.

"The adjustments made to the UCI protocol today have allowed us to find the right balance between the legitimate concerns of the teams facing the risk of exclusion and the importance of maintaining the peloton's health," said UCI President David Lapartient.

"I call on all the cycling family, especially the riders and teams, to continue to act with the same sense of responsibility and united spirit they have shown since the race resumed. All protective measures respecting the rules, such as the wearing of masks in hotels and buses, must be meticulously observed.

"The Tour de France and the 2020 cycling season must continue to the end, giving our sport, which has been greatly affected by the health crisis, a chance to move forward."