Giro d’Covid (SPOILERS)

[Clean39T]

Uh, Remco is going home..

The Belgian was forced to say goodbye to the first Grand Tour of the season after a routine test taken ahead of the first rest day came back positive to Covid-19.

The 23-year-old World Champion, who was making his second Giro d’Italia appearance, had enjoyed prior to this a strong first week, winning two stages and taking four pink jerseys.

“I am really sorry to be leaving the race. As part of the team’s protocol, I took a routine test, which unfortunately was positive. My experience here has been really special and I was looking forward to competing over the next two weeks. I can’t thank enough the staff and the riders who sacrificed so much in preparation for the Giro. I will be cheering them on over the next two weeks”, said Remco, who will travel home on Monday by car.

All the other Soudal Quick-Step riders and staff were tested and are negative.

Did not see that coming.

[peanutgallery]

If it was a saddle sore circa 1999...

[trener1]

Holy S----T wow! that is a real bummer.
Was really looking forward to some epic battles between him and Roglic in the Mountains.

[KonaSS]

Does stink.....but, does he go to the Tour?

[Beldar77]

My Paceline Velogames team.

[Matthew]

Probably unpopular here, but still testing for covid? He says it was a routine test. Probably has no symptoms. Shame he has to abandon the race for this.

[mhespenheide]

That sucks. I'm not his biggest fan, but I was looking forwards to a great race between him, Roglic, TGH, and G.

[charliedid]

I sure hope he took more than one test and that both were PCR type

Weird

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Probably unpopular here, but still testing for covid? He says it was a routine test. Probably has no symptoms. Shame he has to abandon the race for this.

Not quite apples to apples (pro athletes vs US veterans), but in this study, the mortality rate for COVID continues to outpace that of seasonal influenza.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20...r-2022-23.aspx

But, yeah, another year or two, and we likely start treating COVID like the flu (in this case, the athlete and coach would decide regardless of test results).

[rnhood]

Covid is officially over, and it never was much especially with regards to a healthy person. Shame on the Tour for making him drop out. What a crock.

[Marvinlungwitz]

Presumably, testing is similar to that employed last year at the Tour when Bob Jungels was allowed to race because there was evidence of a low viral load (Evenepoel’s test was likely more strongly positive than Jungel’s), which made him (Jungels) unlikely to infect others.

[Gwerziou]

Originally Posted by rnhood

Covid is officially over, and it never was much especially with regards to a healthy person. Shame on the Tour for making him drop out. What a crock.

Outside the realm of politics and wishful thinking, covid is not at all over; still claims countless lives in addition to long covid, and damage (even with almost no symptoms) to liver, kidneys, lungs and especially the brain, with cognitive decline and worryingly now, dementia-like damage appearing in those who have had it multiple times. Not at all a crock if you are capable of critical analysis.

[steelbikerider]

Don't forget Sonny Colbrelli had to retire after heart issues and covid. The articles I googled didn't say if there was a connection but I would bet that Quick-Step or Remco was considering this.

Edit, Read this carefully, I am not making a false statement, Colbrelli did retire after after having covid and heart issues in in the spring of 2022. I also stated that the the articles I googled didn't make a connection and I did not not make that conclusion. The last statement is my speculation that parties involved were considering the rider's future health. .

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by steelbikerider

Don't forget Sonny Colbrelli had to retire after heart issues and covid. The articles I googled didn't say if there was a connection but I would bet that Quick-Step or Remco was considering this.

There was nothing concrete or verified that connected Covid with Colbrellis heart attack and subsequent retirement, so please amend your false statement.

That being said just because a single rider is young and healthy doesn’t mean they’re completely resistant to long term affects, or possibility of passing the disease into more at risk folks. And the rules have been set for all riders - didn’t see a huge hubbub after a rash of Covid withdrawals earlier this week including big names like Ganna.

[prototoast]

Putting aside the broader health implications of covid, Remco seemed a touch off the past two days. Maybe it was the crashes, maybe it was just fatigue, but maybe some of it was the early onset of covid. They said it was a routine test, so I'm guessing he was not overtly symptomatic, but if he felt unusually fatigued today and yesterday and then tested positive for covid, that might not be a coincidence.

So from the team's perspective, I think it can be good to shut things down early. This way he may be able to recover and prepare four the Tour de France. If they hadn't been testing, maybe left him in the race another week as covid adds to his fatigue, he could have just as easily lost the Giro and been left too depleted to recover in time for the Tour.

He's young, and I'm disappointed to see his race end this way, but thankfully the race with Thomas, Geoghegan Hart, and Roglic still looks like a good one.