The return, which begins on Saturday in Burgos, It will be run with an audience in the ports and the attendance of spectators will be allowed at the departures and arrivals of the stages.
Last year, when the race was held between the months of October and November, in the midst of a new wave of COVID infections, the presence of fans and even the Civil Guard and the Ertzaintza, were not allowed in the territories under their control by the that the race passed, closed the access to the mountains and only allowed the passage of vehicles accredited by the race.
This year, as confirmed to this newspaper Javier Guillén, director of the race, the panorama will be different, although the access of fans to the runners will not be allowed so as not to break the racing bubble and avoid contagion in cycling teams.
“There will be a percentage of viewers that will not always be the same and It will depend on the regulations of each autonomous community through which we pass“, explains Guillén. The Spanish round will circulate this year through the communities of the two Castiles, València, Murcia, Andalusia, Extremadura, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia.
The test, unlike other years, will not end in Madrid but with a time trial in Santiago de Compostela. “In the public thoroughfare that we do not control, there will be no problem applauding the passage of the runners, although we do ask that security measures be respected and that everyone wears a mask.”
Cyclists tests
Cyclists must pass a prior control of anticovid tests before the start. All the runners will arrive today in Burgos, since they must spend the night in the Castilian city to pass the anti-doping controls, which continue to exist.
Subsequently, and as long as there is no suspicion of contagion, they will be subjected to new tests on the two rest days of the race; first in Almería and then in Santander. All personnel, both race and technical and auxiliary of the teams, must also pass the relevant tests on the two rest days of the Tour.
Also, unlike last year, The presence of guests will be allowed in the limited areas of the race, both in departures and arrivals. In 2020, both perimeters were completely closed to the public.
No invitations were distributed and no one could see the arrival of the runners live, which gave a very sad aspect to the race that Primoz Roglic won for the second time and that on Saturday he will start as the top favorite to win after having won the medal gold in the Olympic time trial.
“The mask will be mandatory in the departures and arrivals that we control and only the last 50 meters in the finish area will be restricted and without spectators to protect the runners as much as possible,” adds Guillén.
The race, in addition, will require PCR tests, antigens or a complete vaccination passport for all accredited people, just as the Tour did, with sanitary guidelines that are very similar to those required last month by the French round.
