He had just put on the pink jersey again after his victory in the time trial of the 9e stage. Barely hours later, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel was forced to abandon the Tour of Italy cycling, Sunday May 14, defeated by a positive test for Covid-19. “I’m really sorry to have to leave the race. As part of team protocol, I performed a routine test which unfortunately came back positive”the world champion said in a statement.
On the eve of the first day of rest, all the members of his team, Soudal-Quick Step, were tested, but only their 23-year-old Belgian leader – and big favorite of the event – was detected positive. “This experience here has been really special and I was looking forward to racing the next two weeks.mentioned Evenepoel. I would like to thank the staff and the riders who have sacrificed so much to prepare for the Giro. »
Already forced to retire in 2021, during his first participation in the Tour of Italy, the Belgian phenomenon adds a line to his blacklist of transalpine misadventures. In August 2020, a serious injury almost cost him his life after a badly negotiated turn in the descent of the Sormano wall, on the Tour of Lombardy.
However, Remco Evenepoel had started the race in the best possible way. Winner as boss of the first day’s time trial, he had immediately swapped his rainbow jersey for the leader’s pink tunic, and made an impression. Favorite in the race with Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), he then let the pink jersey slip away so as not to overload his teammates, but remained at the forefront.
An edition mistreated by the Covid-19
On Sunday, the Belgian rider won the second time trial of the event, without being imperial like the previous week. On a flat course which favored him, and over a greater distance (35 km), Evenepoel did not hide his disappointment at not having been able to widen the gap with Roglic – only 17 seconds more. “It’s not the result I was hoping for. It’s still a stage win but it wasn’t the best time of my life, that’s obvious.”, he admitted, after crossing the line in the rain and cold. His last pedal strokes in this Giro.
The 2023 edition of the Tour of Italy had already been greatly disrupted by the Covid-19. Even before starting, the Jumbo-Visma, of Primoz Roglic, had been forced to deprive themselves of three riders planned in the team (Tobias Foss, Robert Gesink and Jos van Emden); and during the first week of racing, several riders, including Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadier) and Colombian Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling) or Frenchman Clément Russo (Arkéa-Samsic) were also forced to leave the caravan.
After a day of rest, where the riders will undoubtedly fear the risks of contamination in turn more – reminiscent of the autumn Tour de France of 2020, the first after the pandemic – than the mountain stages to come, the Giro will resume the road on Tuesday. And the Briton Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadier) will be the new leader of the race, ahead of Primoz Roglic by two seconds, and his teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart by five.
Forced to return home – by car, his team said – Remco Evenepoel has already warned: “I will encourage [mes partenaires] the next two weeks »concluded the Belgian world champion, to whom the Italian roads continue to refuse.