Two top riders and two teams finish the 103rd Tour of Italy shortly before the start of the tenth stage due to positive coronavirus cases. As the organisers announced on Tuesday, two riders and six other people tested positive for the coronavirus.
The two professional cyclists who have tested positive are certainly illustrious names. Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk, who is in eleventh place in the overall standings and came third in last year's Tour de France, and Australian Michael Matthews, who has already won several stages in all three major national tours, will have to retire from the Giro early. This was announced by Kruijswijk's team Jumbo-Visma and Matthews' German Sunweb racing team shortly before the start of the stage. The Dutch Jumbo-Visma team led by the two Germans Tony Martin and Christoph Pfingsten announced their complete withdrawal from the Giro shortly afterwards.
The Australian Mitchelton-Scott team had previously announced that it was withdrawing from the race due to four team members testing positive. "Out of social responsibility towards our riders and staff, the peloton and the race organisation, we have made the clear decision to withdraw from the Giro d'Italia," it said in a statement. British team captain and co-favourite Simon Yates had already had to withdraw from the race on Saturday due to a positive test.
As a result, only 145 professional cyclists set off on the 177 kilometres from Lanciano to Tortoreto on Tuesday. Giro director Mauro Vegni does not consider it necessary to stop the race for the time being. "I don't think there is a risk of stopping the race. We have already carried out 1500 tests, one team was particularly affected, for the rest it was only one person per team," he said before the start of the stage.
One member of the French team Ag2r-La Mondiale and the British team Ineos Grenadiers also tested positive. According to organiser RCS, a total of 571 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in recent days. None of the riders tested positive at this year's Tour de France. Only four team support staff and Tour boss Christian Prudhomme tested positive for the virus.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:201013-99-924710/6
