Crazy! Tennis Great Can’t Play In U.S.; Rider With COVID Wins Tour de France Stage

It’s a mad, mad, mad sports world, to say the least! Tennis great Novak Djokovic can’t even enter the United States because he is not vaccinated, but a cyclist from Luxembourg who tested positive for COVID has won a stage of the Tour de France. 

Djokovic, fresh from his Wimbledon win, has returned to No. The world number one ranking would place him among the top contenders to play at the U.S. Open in August. However, that won’t happen because of the American government’s ridiculous vaccination policy. Djokovic was also barred from participating in the Australian Open in January. 

“I would love to go to States,” Djokovic said recently. “But as of today, that’s not possible. It’s impossible for me to do anything more. I mean, it’s really up to the U.S. government to make a decision whether or not they allow unvaccinated people to go into the country.” 

John McEnroe, an ex-tennis player and retired pro tennis player insists that America cannot be considered serious. “These politicians are getting in the way too much,” he said of over-the-top restrictions on unvaccinated athletes like Djokovic. “They did it in Australia. Let’s let the guy come in and play in the U.S. You’re crazy. This is ridiculous.” 

While some pro sports remain stuck on stupid, pro cycling isn’t one of them. Bob Jungels (a Luxembourg cyclist) tested positive for COVID thirteen days ago. A panel of doctors cleared him for competition in the Tour de France, and he won Stage 9 Sunday. 

“I had a test on the Thursday morning,” Jungels told Reuters. “But with the result you could see that I could start the race on Friday. The race was close, I think. Luckily I made it.” 

Writing for Outkick blog, Mark Harris said: “Talk about a novel concept, athletes still being able to compete after a positive test the day prior. Maybe the Tour de France doctors have different technology than every other sport around the world and are the only ones that can determine the severity of viral loads.” 

Unlike U.S. sports that freak out over the mere mention of the words “COVID” and “unvaccinated” in connection with an athlete’s name, Jungels was allowed to race because of a test result showing his Cycle Threshold score was low and he wasn’t considered contagious. 

Apparently, the cycling world is so sane that Velo News coverage of Stage 9 did not even mention that Jungels has COVID. Compare this to NBC Pro Football Talk which constantly attacked Aaron Rodgers and other football players for refusing vaccines. 

Jungels rode 60 kilometers alone in the lead to win the 193K stage through mountainous terrain in Switzerland and France. 

It’s a shame that tennis is too stubborn to use the Cycle Threshold to scientifically determine whether or not Djokovic is healthy enough to compete in the U.S. Open. Someone who just endured the long Wimbledon tournament and emerge on top seems to indicate a high level of health and a low level of risk to others. That’s too much commonsense to expect from the control freaks making COVID-related decisions in the U.S.