Earlier tonight Team Soudal-QuickStep announced its World Champion and current Giro d’Italia leader Remco Evenepoel has been forced to abandon Giro d’Italia 2023 because of a positive Covid-19 (Corona) test.

A few hours ago 23-year-old Evenepoel regained the overall lead in this year’s Giro after an impressive performance in today’s individual time trial. Evenepoel won two stages in the Giro and now leaves the race hugely disappointed.

“I am really sorry to be leaving the race. As part of the team’s protocol, I took a routine test, which unfortunately was positive,” Evenepoel explained. 

“My experience here has been really special and I was looking forward to competing over the next two weeks. I can’t thank the staff and the riders enough who sacrificed so much in preparation for the Giro. I will be cheering on them over the next two weeks,” Evenepoel added.

Yesterday, Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) also abandoned the Giro because of a positive Covid-19 test.

Given the increasing number of Covid-19 infections in the professional cycling peloton and the risk of spreading the disease to riders and vulnerable people around the world it is sad that so few teams in the Giro are instructing riders to wear masks.

It would appear logical for teams to do their utmost not to jeopardize their chances of success in important races they have spent months preparing for.