Following the departure of Remco Evenepoel from the Giro d'Italia on Sunday evening, relinquishing the maglia rosa, Soudal-Quickstep have suffered four more COVID-19 positives, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Mattia Cattaneo leaving the race on Wednesday morning.
"After the positive of Remco on Sunday evening, we had two more riders who were feeling unwell on Monday morning, but were negative on antigen tests," said Soudal-QuickStep team doctor Toon Cruyt.
"Therefore a PCR test was carried out on the seven remaining riders, the results of which showed that the four guys were positive. We will continue to monitor and implement our testing protocol on the three riders and staff that remain at the race."
The virus continues to rip through the peloton, with Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën) and Stefano Gandin (Corratec-Selle Italia) also testing positive. Trek-Segafredo announced that Natnael Tesfatsion wouldn't start due to flu, taking the total number of non-starters on stage 11 to seven.
Furthermore, it was revealed on Tuesday evening that Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), one of the big overall contenders who abandoned on stage 10, has now also tested positive for COVID-19.
After Evenepoel's departure, the wave of QuickStep departures leaves the Belgian team with just three riders left in the race: Ilan Van Wilder, Davide Ballerini, and Pieter Serry.
"For the guys, it's a big disappointment because they were all very motivated, they sacrificed weeks and weeks of private life to come here in good shape and then this happens," team boss Patrick Lefevere told Cyclingnews.
"The three riders have to go on because they made all these sacrifices. I spoke this morning with the guys who go home and said 'take care of yourselves'. If you go on your bike in two days it's over, there's probably no chance you do the Tour de France'. First of all recover, do exams, make sure there's no damage, then start again, as we always do.
"I try to stay positive. We won two stages and had four days in the pink jersey. A lot of people go home empty handed."
COVID-19 has now taken out a swathe of riders, with Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), and Domenico Pozzovivo (Israel-Premier Tech) among the high-profile withdrawals in recent days.
The chaos began before the race had even set out, with Jumbo-Visma having to find replacements for three riders who tested positive in the build-up to the race and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) also missing out on the start.
In the face of the mounting number of cases, the Giro organisers tightened restrictions ahead of the second week. The UCI stripped back its COVID-19 protocol at the start of the 2023 season but the situation at the Giro is such that facemasks are now in force in spaces such as sign-on podium, finish lines, and anti-doping.
"Should we have done it earlier? Probably," race director Mauro Vegni admitted on Monday's rest day.
What's certain is that the peloton - which now counts 143 riders from the 176 starters - will be braced for COVID-19 to pull out their race from underneath them.
"Remco texted me yesterday and said that if it goes like this, maybe 80 riders will make it to Rome," Lefevere noted.
3 months of perfect preparation for the @giroditalia. Months of sacrifice away from family.But unfortunately, you don't have everything in your own hands. After the ride, I got confirmation why I had not felt 100% fit since these few days.Covid has got me too pic.twitter.com/ifPTxJzrkeMay 17, 2023
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Four more Soudal-QuickStep riders leave Giro d'Italia as COVID-19 ravages squad - Cyclingnews
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