Mitchelton Scott had already lost its leader, and one of the pre-race favourites, from the Giro d’Italia due to Covid-19 and now the whole team has pulled out of the race.
Simon Yates fell ill towards the end of the opening week and when he was tested the results confirmed he had Covid-19.
The rest of the riders and staff were tested at the time and all of those results came back negative, raising hopes Yates’s case was a once-off in the team.
However, when over 500 tests were carried out on the race over the past 48 hours, four staff members on the team tested positive and now the team has withdrawn from the race.
It issued a statement confirming it would take no further part in the event. Its four positive cases account for half the eight positives recorded across Giro riders and team staff during testing over the last two days.
Advertisement
Related News
Brent Copeland, the team’s general manager, said the team had no option but to put everyone’s health first and play no further part in the event; a huge blow for the team which has been very unfortunate.
“Unfortunately we received the news on Monday evening that we have returned a number of positive Covid-19 results to members of our staff after our third round of tests in three days,” Copeland said.
“As a social responsibility to our riders and staff, the peloton and the race organisation we have made the clear decision to withdraw from the Giro d’Italia.
“Thankfully those impacted remain asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, but as an organisation the health of all of our riders and staff is our main priority.
“And we are now focused on safely transporting them to areas where they are most comfortable to conduct a period of quarantine.
“We wish the RCS and the rest of the peloton a successful finish to this year’s edition of the Giro d’Italia and we look forward to returning in 2021.”
Topics
