AUSTRALIAN CYCLING TEAM Mitchelton said today it was pulling out of the ongoing Giro d’Italia race after four staff members tested positive for Covid-19.
Two riders from two other teams, including Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk from the Jumbo team, who finished third in the 2019 Tour de France, also tested positive, international cycling federation UCI announced.
Mitchelton said they had been notified of four positive results for “staff members” after tests conducted on Sunday.
“Upon receiving the results, Mitchelton-Scott immediately withdrew its team from the race and will focus on the health of its riders and staff and their safe movement to areas of quarantine,” the team said in a statement before today’s 10th stage of the race.
Mitchelton general manager Brent Copeland added: “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.”
Copeland said those who tested positive “remain asymptomatic or with mild symptoms” and they would now undergo a period of quarantine.
