© BELGIAN
Cyclocross
It remains a story without end: covid-19 still keeps the sports world under its spell. Soon in the United States, where the Cyclo-cross World Championships will be organized at the end of this month. It’s just less strict there than here in Belgium. Everyone thinks that even the protocol drawn up by the UCI could have been stricter.
Guy Van Den Langenbergh
Wednesday 19 January 2022 at 17:04
It is not easy to get to the United States and leaving the country also requires effort, but once you are at your destination it all seems to be not too bad. “Anyone who will soon board the plane to the US must be able to present a negative PCR test that was taken at most 24 hours before takeoff,” explains Kris Van Der Mieren, federal doctor at Belgian Cycling. “We will take the last test next Sunday, it is all nicely organised.”
Anyone who submits a negative pcr is allowed to board the plane. But once in the United States, the rules will become more flexible, by European standards anyway. “The World Cup protocol that the UCI has provided us is indeed a lot less strict than our own protocol that we will continue to use,” said the federal doctor, who insists that strict rules will also be followed in Fayetteville, also outside the course: mouth mask, bubbles per category, isolate where necessary and according to self-drafted rules.
“Hardly anyone wears a mouth mask”
But once on the track? It actually comes down to this: riders, entourage and the public are only asked to wear a mouth mask. It is not necessary to prove that you have been vaccinated. Which is also not surprising when you know that in Arkansas barely half of the inhabitants have actually already had a shot. “We are worried anyway”, says Dutch national coach Gerben de Knegt at our sister newspaper De Telegraaf. “Local contacts have already informed us that in Fayetteville itself hardly anyone wears a mouth mask.”
The UCI protocol only requires that the mouth mask is worn correctly on the World Cup site, FFP2 if possible, but a surgical one is sufficient if there is no other option. Neither the riders nor the public have to prove that they have been vaccinated, the responsibility of all those present is mainly counted. Two meters away, correct use of the mouth mask, regularly disinfecting hands. And that’s it.
The situation in Arkansas? Not very rosy, as it turns out. The state of three million residents recorded 3,213 new Covid cases, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and 1,487 people were hospitalized with Covid. And that was a record for this ‘forgotten’ state, which they attribute to the low number of vaccinated inhabitants.
And the athletes themselves? They don’t seem to worry much, once they board the plane to the US on Monday morning. Then the main hurdle is cleared.
