Giro d'Italia on brink of cancellation amid COVID-19 cases
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[October 13, 2020]
(Reuters) - The Giro d'Italia
was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were
hit by COVID-19 cases on the first rest day, with two of them
pulling out of the three-week grand tour 12 days before the finish
in Milan.
The Mitchelton-Scott team withdrew after four staff members tested
positive for the coronavirus following top rider Simon Yates pulling
out last week. Jumbo-Visma, whose leader Steven Kruisjwijk tested
positive, said they would not start the 10th stage on Tuesday.
A Team Sunweb rider, one staff member from Ineos-Grenadiers and
AG2R-La Mondiale also returned positive tests, organisers RCS said.
RCS, in a joint statement with the International Cycling Union
(UCI), said the teams' doctors had ordered "isolation measures".
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Sunweb said Australian Michael Matthews had tested positive and was
asymptomatic, and Jumbo-Visma later said on Twitter they were out of
the race with sports director Addy Engels saying "we thought it was
the most responsible decision because we’ve all been close to
Steven."
Mitchelton-Scott said the team were notified of the four positive
results for staff members from tests done on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, we received the news on Monday evening that we have
returned a number of positive COVID-19 results to members of our
staff after our third round of tests in three days," the team's
general manager Brent Copeland said.
"As a social responsibility to our riders and staff, the peloton and
the race organisation we have made the clear decision to withdraw
from the Giro d'Italia.
"Thankfully, those impacted remain asymptomatic or with mild
symptoms."
SAFETY CRITICISED
Yates, who like Kruijswijk had been among the pre-race favourites,
withdrew on Saturday after testing positive for the virus.
Kruijswijk was 11th overall, 1:24 behind race leader Joao Almeida of
Portugal and 27 seconds behind double champion and fifth-placed
Vincenzo Nibali of Italy.
Riders in the Giro stay in a biosecure bubble when not on the road,
just as they did for the Tour de France, which finished on Sept. 20.
Four staff members but no riders tested positive for the virus that
causes COVID-19 while on the French tour.
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![](../images/101320pics/sports57.jpg)
Mitchelton-Scott rider Simon Yates of Britain in action.
REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
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On the Tour de France, two positive tests in a team within one week
would have triggered the ejection of the outfit from the race but no
such rule was put in place for the Italian grand tour, which started
in Sicily on Oct. 3.
Dutchman Jos van Emden of Jumbo-Visma criticised the organisation,
saying the bubble was not secure enough.
"The other day we were in there with four or five teams... but in
that particular hotel we were in, the neutral service, the police on
motorbikes were there, just normal people were there and they were
all eating from the same buffet so I think it was a real big
mistake," Van Emden told The Cycling Podcast.
"I heard from a guy from (Deceuninck) Quick Step they had exactly
the same, this guy sent me a movie from their dining hall and also
Mitchelton-Scott were there... for me there's no doubt were he
(Simon Yates) got the virus."
Italy, which hosted the rescheduled world championships last month,
has seen a recent rise in coronavirus cases, with a post-lockdown
record 5,456 people infected registered last Saturday.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Oct/13/images/ads/current/coachhouse_lda_SHI_2019.png)
Elite racing resumed in August after a four-and-a-half month hiatus.
However, the 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 and Simon Jennings in Bengaluru;
Editing by Peter Rutherford, Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge)
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