The Tour de France has always made it to Paris on schedule, but Covid-19 means this year’s race will be on a constant knife edge
Of all the world’s great sports events, the Tour de France is the only one that goes out to its public. As the late Geoffrey Nicholson wrote, it is the only form of international conflict other than war that takes place on the doorstep. During a global pandemic, the edition that should start in Nice on Saturday is uniquely significant and uniquely risky. The conditional says it all: the 2020 Tour has been in doubt since March, it was postponed in April and it will be on a knife edge as long as it lasts.
Related: Tour de France: teams will be expelled if two members test positive for Covid
Egan Bernal, Team Ineos
Last year the Colombian became one of the youngest ever Tour winners; still only 23, the Ineos leader is a precocious talent with victories in the Tour of Switzerland, Paris-Nice and Tour of California already.
Related: Ineos's Tour de France team marks end of road for Britain's cycling empire | Jeremy Whittle
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