UAE Cycling Team of Tour Champ Pogačar Gets COVID-19 Vaccine

Tour de France winner Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium with the Slovenian flag after the twenty-first and last stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 122 kilometers (75.8 miles), from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, France, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The riders and staff of the cycling team fronted by Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar have received a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the start of the 2021 season.

UAE Team Emirates said Friday that 27 riders and 32 staff members have had a vaccine developed by Sinopharm CNBG out of China and approved by the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Health & Prevention.

“As a UAE team, we are enormously proud of the efforts the nation and its leadership has taken at every level to both combat the impact the of the COVID-19 pandemic and to be a leader in the efforts to bring life back to normal,” team principal Mauro Gianetti said.

The World Tour season is set to start with the UAE Tour scheduled for Feb. 21-27. The Tour Down Under, which was scheduled to open the season on Jan. 19, was canceled, The Associated Press reported.

The UCI is hoping it can complete a full World Tour season otherwise.