Teams and riders have pleaded with fans at the Tour de France to wear face masks as the race prepares for its next round of Covid-19 testing. Saturday’s eighth stage, in which Adam Yates clung on to yellow as the race exploded around him in the Pyrenees, was a thriller. But it also featured thousands of fans on the Port de Bales and Col de Peyresourde climbs screaming the riders on, or running alongside them. Many of them were not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing. Sunday's ninth stage is another Pyrenean test — from Pau to Laruns — before the next round of testing begins on Sunday night and continues on Monday's first rest day. It will be the first time riders and team staff are tested for Covid-19 since the race began in Nice, a Covid ‘red zone’, over a week ago. Any team found to have two positives among riders or staff will be expelled from the race. The professional riders' association (CPA) called on fans to wear face masks along the route. "To cycling lovers: Respect the riders, respect yourself, respect the distance and wear a mask," the CPA said in a statement on Saturday. Spanish team Movistar issued a statement on Twitter urging fans to use masks and maintain social distancing to give the race the best possible chance of reaching Paris on September 20.
