Irish rider Sam Bennett is out of La Vuelta, with his team Bora-hansgrohe confirming his withdrawal was due to a returning a positive test result for Covid-19.
The Carrick-on-Suir man had won two stages during the race's start in the Netherlands. He also led the points classification for most of the opening week and was a favourite to win more stages and take the green jersey all the way to Madrid.
However, after his positive test result his team said it was decided he would not start today's 30.9km TT to Alicante. It leaves Ryan Mullen, Bennett's team mate, as the sole Irish rider in the race.
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"(Sam Bennett) returned a positive antigen test this morning, and also showed some symptoms. Therefore we decided that he wouldn’t start today’s stage," Bora-hansgrohe said.
Bennett's withdrawal is a massive blow for him as he had just rediscovered his form on La Vuelta after struggling this year to win sprints following an injury-hit 2021 season.
More to come.
