Giro d'Italia on Brink of Cancellation after COVID-19 Hits Five Teams

The Giro d'Italia was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were hit by COVID-19 cases. (Getty Images)
The Giro d'Italia was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were hit by COVID-19 cases. (Getty Images)
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Giro d'Italia on Brink of Cancellation after COVID-19 Hits Five Teams

The Giro d'Italia was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were hit by COVID-19 cases. (Getty Images)
The Giro d'Italia was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were hit by COVID-19 cases. (Getty Images)

The Giro d'Italia was on the brink of cancellation on Tuesday after five teams were hit by COVID-19 cases on the first rest day of the three-week grand tour with almost two weeks left until the finish in Milan.

The Mitchelton-Scott team withdrew from the race after four staff members tested positive for the coronavirus following top rider Simon Yates pulling out last week.

A rider from Jumbo-Visma, a Team Sunweb rider, one staff member from Ineos-Grenadiers and AG2R-La Mondiale also returned positive tests, organizers RCS said.

RCS, in a joint statement with the International Cycling Union (UCI), said the teams' doctors had ordered "isolation measures".

Sunweb said Australian Michael Matthews had tested positive and was asymptomatic, with Jumbo-Visma saying on Twitter their rider Steven Kruijswijk had returned a positive result and would leave the race.

Mitchelton-Scott said the team were notified of the four positive results for staff members from tests done on Sunday.

"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," the team's general manager Brent Copeland said.

"As a social responsibility to our riders and staff, the peloton and the race organization we have made the clear decision to withdraw from the Giro d'Italia.

"Thankfully, those impacted remain asymptomatic or with mild symptoms."

Yates, who like Kruijswijk had been among the pre-race favorites, withdrew on Saturday after testing positive for the virus.

Kruijswijk was 11th overall, 1:24 behind race leader Joao Almeida of Portugal and 27 seconds behind double champion and fifth-placed Vincenzo Nibali of Italy.

Riders in the Giro stay in a biosecure bubble when not on the road, just as they did for the Tour de France, which finished on Sept. 20. No riders tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 while on the French tour.

On the Tour de France, two positive tests in a team within one week would have triggered the ejection of the outfit from the race but no such rule was put in place for the Italian grand tour, which started in Sicily on Oct. 3.

Italy, which hosted the rescheduled world championships last month, has seen a recent rise in coronavirus cases, with a post-lockdown record 5,456 people infected registered last Saturday.

Elite racing resumed in August after a four-and-a-half-month hiatus, but the resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe has forced local authorities and organizers to cancel races, such as the Netherlands’ Amstel Gold Race, which had been scheduled for Saturday, and Paris-Roubaix, the “Monument” classic that was due to be raced on Oct. 25.



Club World Cup: Al-Hilal Bows Out After a Run That ‘Exceeded Expectations’

Al-Hilal exits Club World Cup after Quarter-Final loss to Fluminense. (SPA)
Al-Hilal exits Club World Cup after Quarter-Final loss to Fluminense. (SPA)
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Club World Cup: Al-Hilal Bows Out After a Run That ‘Exceeded Expectations’

Al-Hilal exits Club World Cup after Quarter-Final loss to Fluminense. (SPA)
Al-Hilal exits Club World Cup after Quarter-Final loss to Fluminense. (SPA)

Al-Hilal exited from the 2025 Club World Cup yesterday, following a 2-1 defeat to Brazil's Fluminense in their quarter-final match.

Substitute Hercules scored his second goal in as many second-half appearances to lift Fluminense into the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Al Hilal on Friday in Orlando, Fla.

Martinelli also scored late in the first half to continue a fabulous tournament for the Rio de Janeiro club and Brazil overall. Palmeiras also got to the quarterfinals before falling 2-1 on Friday to Chelsea, who will oppose Fluminense on Tuesday in a semifinal match at East Rutherford, N.J.

Al Hilal exits despite a fourth tournament goal for striker Marcos Leonardo, who was in for the injured Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The Saudi side was the last from Asia remaining, having pulled off the tournament's biggest upset with a 4-3, extra-time victory over Manchester City in the second round on Monday.

Hercules put Fluminense in front for good in the 70th minute when he was rewarded for his own persistence.

After his first long-range shot was deflected high into the air, he continued his run forward as teammate Samuel Xavier won the next header.

It landed at the feet of Hercules, whose wonderful first touch put him in shooting position before his second sent a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner, prompting jubilation from yet another pro-Brazilian crowd at this tournament.

Al Hilal pressured Fluminense in the dying stages, but couldn't create a clear look on Fabio's net.

Martinelli put Fluminense in front in the 40th minute on a brilliant strike. His first touch took Gabriel Fuentes' pass beyond a charging Al Hilal defender, and his second unleashed a ferocious left-footed shot that beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to the top right corner from about 15 yards.

A minute into first-half stoppage time, Fluminense keeper Fabio sprawled to his left to push Kalidou Koulibaly's powerful header beyond the post.

After nearly leveling before halftime, Koulibaly won another dangerous header six minutes into the second half from a corner.

This time it landed at the feet of Leonardo, who balanced himself and scooped a finish from close range past Fabio and two defenders on the line.

It remained level four minutes later when Bounou sprawled to his right to take the ball off the feet of German Cano trying to round him on the dribble after intercepting a pass deep in the attacking half.

Liverpool FC and Portugal national team star Diogo Joto and his brother Andre Silva, who died Thursday in Spain in a car accident, were honored with a pregame moment of silence.