Jumbo Visma directeur, Grischa Niermann, has said while the rest of the world "doesn't see" the Covid-19 virus any more, there were still some cases in his team, adding Jonas Vingegaard was wearing a mask at Paris-Nice in an effort not to fall ill.
Vingegaard rode below par on the uphill finish of stage 4 today, shedding time to stage winner and new race leader, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Niermann was asked why the Dane was still wearing a mask and whether it was a sign he was ill.
"He's not sick," he said of Vingegaard, who attacked first up the finishing climb but slumped to 6th on the stage, losing 43 seconds to Pogačar, who looked very strong today.
"We still have some Covid cases in the team," added Niermann. "Maybe the rest of the world doesn't see it anymore but, for us, it's still a problem. We've asked our riders to stay away from the public, from the media, and to wear a mask if possible because we don't want to have sick riders."
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Niermann suggested Vingegaard had perhaps been unwise to attack with just over 4km to go on the uphill finish as he did not have the legs to respond when other attacks followed.
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"I think it wasn't our best day today. Jonas felt really good, I think in the end he went a little bit over the limit. That cost him, he shouldn't have done that. But that's racing."
Niermann added he was not concerned that Vingegaard had no support from his team on the final climb, saying he had been supported to that point and it was always going to be down to the Dane when the racing started on the climb.
"Of course, he's disappointed," said Niermann, "He was aiming for more and maybe he shouldn't have attacked himself in the first place, and that cost him. But that's life. He felt good and he wanted to try and then in the end he didn't succeed."
Asked if Pogačar was not catchable in the general classification, Niermann said the race was not over yet.
"We will see. The race finishes on Sunday afternoon so until then we won't give up. We know Pogačar in his spring form is always incredibly good. We don't know that only from this year, but also from last year. And he looks very strong at the moment."
