Cycling: Yates's positive coronavirus test casts shadow on Giro d'Italia
Send a link to a friend
[October 10, 2020]
GIOVINAZZO, Italy (Reuters) -
The Giro d'Italia was thrown into turmoil when Briton Simon Yates
pulled out on Saturday after testing positive for the new
coronavirus one week into the three-week race.
Yates, one of the pre-race favourites, returned two positive test
following Friday's seventh stage after displaying "a very mild"
fever during a routine check, his Mitchelton-Scott team said.
The rest of the team subsequently underwent tests and all members
were negative, with organisers RCS allowing the Australian outfit to
continue the race, Mitchelton-Scott said.
"Yates developed very mild symptoms in the hours following
yesterday’s seventh stage. The Mitchelton-Scott medical team
immediately requested a rapid test which indicated a positive
result. A second, RT-PCR, test was later taken, which has confirmed
the positive result," the team said in a statement.
"The 28-year-old was isolated in his single room during the process
and is being safely transported by organised ambulance for a period
of quarantine where the team can offer its best possible care. His
symptoms remain very mild.
"With the health of staff and riders the highest priority, the
remaining Mitchelton-Scott riders and staff have also undergone a
rapid test, each returning a negative result. They have been given
clearance by the RCS to continue racing and, as a precaution, will
undergo further testing in the coming days."
Yates, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in the lead-up to
the Giro, was 21st overall, 3:52 behind overall leader Joao Almeida
of Portugal after losing more than three minutes in the first
mountain stage.
[to top of second column]
|
The 185-km Stage 15 from
Limoux to Foix Prat d'Albis - July 21, 2019 - Mitchelton-Scott rider
Simon Yates of Britain in action. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Riders on the Giro stay in a biosecure bubble when not on the road,
just as they did on the Tour de France, which finished on Sept. 20.
No riders tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 while
on the French tour.
On the Tour, two positive tests in a team within one week would
trigger the ejection of the outfit from the race but no such rule
was put in place on the Italian grand tour, which started from
Sicily on Oct. 3.
Italy, which hosted the rescheduled world championships earlier this
month, has seen a recent rise in coronavirus cases, with a
post-lockdown record 5,372 people infected registered on Friday.
Elite racing resumed in August after a four-and-a-half month hiatus,
but the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe has forced local
authorities and organisers to cancel races, such as the Netherlands'
Amstel Gold Race, which had been scheduled for Saturday, and
Paris-Roubaix, the "Monument" classic that was due to be raced on
Oct. 25.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot in Paris; Editing by William Mallard)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|