The 106th Giro d’Italia loses its leader and biggest star: road bike world champion Remco Evenepoel has to give up on the second largest national tour because of a positive corona test. This was announced by his team Soudal-QuickStep.
A few hours earlier, the Belgian had won the ninth stage and regained the pink jersey of the overall leader.
Evenepoel was 45 seconds ahead of Britain’s Geraint Thomas. With the 23-year-old being eliminated, Bremen’s Lennard Kämna moved up to eighth place.
“As part of the routine in our team, I underwent a test, which unfortunately came out positive. I was looking forward to racing here for the next two weeks,” said Evenepoel.
It is the fifth Corona case of the current Giro, even before the race some drivers had decided not to start after testing positive. Monday is the first day of rest.