Coronavirus: Four teams still confined in UAE hotel; Strade Bianche to go ahead; “Why don’t drivers pay road tax?"; Cyclist-turned-boxer Waeytens has say on Moscon; Tinkov's £20 million bail; Froome recovery 'on track' + more on live blog

Riders and staff from four teams – Cofidis, FDJ, UAE Team Emirates and Gazprom – remain confined in a hotel in the United Arab Emirates following two suspected cases of coronavirus.

The suspected cases related to two Italian staff members of UAE Team Emirates, who are housed on the same floor of the Yas Island Crowne Plaza as the other three teams.

FDJ’s Arnaud Demare said: “The others from the other floors were allowed home Sunday but everybody was eating and mixing together in the same place on Friday and Saturday.

“We're all stuck in our rooms, there was cycling on the TV this weekend and we've been working out and watching Netflix.”

He and his team-mates will also be able to do a bit of pedalling too, with a picture on social media showing a consignment of Elite turbo trainers being delivered to the team.

Meanwhile, this video from Cofidis rider Nathan Haas and team mate Attilio Viviani shows how they are managing to keep fit using a variety of props.

Keep fit during your quarantine https://t.co/Mtn3PTVcYX

— Nathan Haas (@NathanPeterHaas) March 1, 2020

Very happy to see this. Getting on with business as usual. Accepting risk is part of living. Accepting and embracing risk is a really big part of cycling and professional cycling. So, let’s get on with it and race some bikes! #exploretheworld #chickenlittleneedsprozac https://t.co/XsFneVcl6i

— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) March 2, 2020

Not everyone agrees with the EF Pro Cycling manager, with some of the opinion that everything surrounding bike races (plane travel, large congregations of people) aren't the best things for containing what could turn into a pandemic... what do you think? 

But is the health of the cyclists really worth that risk? I can understand risk around crashing are part of road cycling's very nature but not sure global pandemics/infections are...

— Jacob (@marrakoosh) March 2, 2020

So will you be there exposing yourself to COVID-19? What about rider's families - some have very young children. And it is hard to think of a more effective way of spreading disease than assembling a bunch of people in a hot-spot & then dispersing them round the world by plane.

— tashatam (@tashatam14) March 2, 2020

Despite the @uae_tour not finishing as I expected, I’m happy to report the sensations are good & my recovery is on track. The hard work continues 👊 #RoadToTDF2020 pic.twitter.com/f2hlmCzswM

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) March 2, 2020

The UAE Tour 'not finishing as he expected' is perhaps an understatement, but the four-time Tour de France champ says that on the plus side, his own personal battle back from the horror crash that ruled him out of action last summer appears to be going well. Odds on a podium at Le Tour 2020? 

That old nugget that cyclists are less worthy road users because they don't pay 'road tax' (no one does, it was abolished by Winston Churchill in 1937) is somewhat even more ironic in the capital as we get closer to 2021... the date from when absolutely none of the £500m a year in Vehicle Excise Duty collected from London's drivers will actually go towards upkeep of the roads.

Next time someone goes on about "road tax" in London I will remind them that from next year all of the VED goes to central government and people using public transport are paying for the roads and all of the damage that they cause.https://t.co/MEYvBd52BP pic.twitter.com/yO6sNgyKUQ

— Pkr - A day in the life as a father. (@lxtwin) March 1, 2020

Page 32 of Transport for London's Business Plan published in 2017 says: "We have to, for the first time, address the critical issues of London’s road network, including congestion, road danger, maintenance and air quality, without any Government operating grant. Furthermore, from 2021, the £500m raised every year from Londoners paying Vehicle Excise Duty will be collected by central Government and only invested in roads outside the Capital.

"This means the net operating costs of London’s roads, currently almost £200m each year, and the cost of renewing these roads, between £100m to £150m each year, are effectively being cross subsidised from fare-paying public transport users. This is neither sustainable nor equitable. As a result, in the short to medium term we will have to significantly reduce our programme of proactive capital renewals on the road network, although we will ensure safety of the network is maintained."

George Osborne announced reforms to VED back in his 2015 budget by earmarking the funds for road network improvements; but he was criticised by Cycling UK's Roger Geffen and others for essentially raising money to build on the road network, when "councils are struggling to maintain the ones we’ve got." TfL maintain that they want there to be a link between VED and road funding in London, and would use some of the cash to modernise the road network to "support more walking and cycling journeys across the Capital."

Will the next budget and/or new transport strategies amend this schedule so London drivers are paying at least something towards the roads they drive on? Until then, at least the 'road tax' argument is particularly untrue in London... 

Hi @GianniMoscon if you ever throw a bike again to a friend... I will put you between your frame and it will take me exactly 6sec. to do it ! Kind regards 🙋‍♂️

— zico waeytens (@ZicoWaeytens) March 1, 2020

That's because Waeytens retired from cycling to take up... boxing of all things, and appears to be laying down the law for the Italian in this tweet. While his English ain't perfect what we can gather is that the Belgian says if Moscon throws a bike at one of his pals again, he will wrap him around a bike frame and do it all in six seconds flat. Now that's fighting talk... 

pic.twitter.com/NTq92xFo1i

— Rodadortop (@Rodadortop) March 1, 2020

Nothing shown up for the 25-year-old on Twitter either, which we presume is something to do with landing himself in hot water again after being disqualified from Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne for throwing bike at another rider. Team Ineos (then Tean Sky) said after Moscon hit Fortuneo-Samsic rider Elie Gesbert at the 2018 Tour de France that he would be sacked for any more misconduct; however they are yet to release a statement about this latest incident. 

So who will get there first? In time, with zero emissions, no noise, free health benefits and having a good time! pic.twitter.com/KBFFNh10MI

— Henk Swarttouw (@copenhenken) March 1, 2020

A cynical soul in the comments noted: "That can't be real, there are no cars blocking the bike lane"... well that's because this footage was taken in the Netherlands, where doing so is frowned upon considerably more so than here if reports are to be believed. Is your  bike commute quicker than driving?