Tour of Italy
Low blow for the Belgian “child prodigy”: Remco Evenepoel surprisingly had to end the Giro d’Italia as the leader on Sunday. The 23-year-old had tested positive for the corona virus within the team after winning the individual time trial. For Evenepoel, the dream of a first victory in one of the three major national tours is over.
“I’m really sorry that I have to leave the race. My experience here was really special,” he said. “As part of the routine in our team, I underwent a test, which unfortunately came out positive. I was looking forward to driving here over the next two weeks,” said Evenepoel.
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.
Thomas new leader
The Brit from the Inesos team now leads the general classification two seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), another second behind is Thomas’ compatriot and teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart in third place before the first rest day. For Evenepoel it was the second stage win at this year’s tour. He is the fifth coronavirus case of the current Giro.
Evenepoel had already worn the Maglia Rosa for the first three stages, but gave up the lead again for tactical reasons. Evenepoel also won the opening time trial at the Giro, but at that time with a significantly larger lead.
On Saturday on the way to the mountain finish on the Gran Sasso, Evenepoel, who had fallen several times during the tour, showed slight weaknesses after a Roglic attack. Many had expected a clear victory for Evenepoel on Sunday.