ROME – Giro d’Italia was thrown into chaos on Tuesday when two full teams, another contender and a more elite player withdrew from the cycling race after a series of positive tests for coronavirus.
The Mitchellton-Scott and Jumbo-Wisma teams left the race before Stage 10.
Four members of the Mitchellton-Scott staff tested positive. Mitchell-Scott team leader Simon Yates returned after signing a contract for the COVID-19 before the eighth round on Saturday.
Jumbo-Wisma’s Dutch contender Steven Cruisewijk and Team Sunweb’s Michael Matthews also tested positive during the 571 exam for all riders and staff members, consistent with the rest of Monday. Cruisewijk and Mathews were withdrawn from the event.
Jumbo-Visma then announced just minutes before the start of the stage that she was also withdrawing the rest of her team. Still, the stage started with the remaining 20 teams and 145 players remaining.
“We are all in touch [Kruijswijk] In recent days, ” Jumbo-Wisma Sports Director Eddie Angel told RAI State TV. “So the risk of delivering it to someone else has been there for days. We won’t take the risk.”
In addition, a staff member for the Inios Grenadiers team and a staff member for the AG2R-La Mondial returned positive and was placed in isolation.
Giro director Mauro Wagni has suggested that if Mila Cto. If the plan is not fulfilled in Milan on the 25th, there will be no winner in the race. The race was already rescheduled from its usual May slot due to the coronavirus epidemic.
“This morning, all the teams with positive cases were given new, faster tests and we will do it again tomorrow,” Wagni said. “We have done about 1,500 tests and it is clearly impossible to do more than that.”
“The goal for everyone is still to reach Milan.”
Italy handles about 3,000 new coronavirus cases every day, after the government mandated outdoor masks last week, prompting the government to consider further sanctions.
The 10th phase of the Giro crashed into the central Abruzzo region, a 177-kilometer (110-mile) footpath from L Ab Kiano to Tortoreto.
Mitchellton-Scott general manager Brent Copeland said the team’s positives returned after the third round of tests in three days.
“As a social responsibility of our riders and crew, we have made a clear decision to withdraw the peloton and race organizations,” Copeland said. “Thankfully, the affected people have faint or mild symptoms. … We have now safely focused on transporting them to places where they are most comfortable performing the quarantine period,” Copeland said.
CruiseSwijk finished 11th overall, 1 minute behind race leader Joao Almeida. He has a career top-10 finish at Giro.
“On the team we take a lot of steps to avoid contamination. And I just feel fit. I couldn’t believe I got it. It’s very disappointing to get this news,” said Cruiseswijk. “It’s a pity I have to give up this way.”
Mathews wasn’t in the overall argument – he was about an hour behind Almeida – but he’s a punchy player and a strong runner aiming for a stage win. The Grand Australian has won a total of eight rounds in three Grand Tours – the Giro (two), the Tour de France (three) and the Spanish Vuleta (three).
Sunweb said Matthews is currently vague, looks healthy and is now different after getting results early this morning. ” The team added that its other riders and staff members have returned to negative tests.
Mathews scored three top-finishes in this year’s race, the result of second place in Stage 6 behind Arnaud Demer.
Mathews wrote on Twitter that he is disappointed that the first weekend with the Giro team ended this way for me. “For now, I’ll start my isolation and keep a close eye on things. Hope to achieve a full recovery and come back soon.”
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