Alex Dowsett takes Giro d'Italia stage eight after Simon Yates withdraws
Simon Yates was withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia before Saturday’s stage eight after testing positive for coronavirus. The 28-year-old Briton began to show mild symptoms after stage seven on Friday, his Mitchelton-Scott team said, and was subsequently tested, at the request of their medical team by RCS Sport, the race organisers. Yates has been isolated in his hotel room and will now enter a period of quarantine.
Later in the day his British compatriot Alex Dowsett, of Israel Start-Up Nation, soloed to victory in Vieste after being part of a six-man breakaway that was allowed to go free on the 200km route which began in Giovinazzo, north of Bari in south-east Italy.
Regarding Yates’s positive test, the Mitchelton-Scott team doctor Matteo Beltemacchi said: “Simon displayed a very mild temperature on Friday evening during our routine temperature checks, which have been completed three times per day during the course of the Giro d’Italia. Following the team’s Racesafe Covid-19 policy, he was isolated in his room and we immediately requested a rapid test using the services offering by the RCS, which has returned positive.”
A follow-up test confirmed the result and Dr Beltemacchi added: “Simon’s health remains our main concern and, thankfully, his symptoms remain very mild and he is otherwise in good health. We want to thank the RCS for their support in arranging the quick testing and his transport.” Mitchelton-Scott said their other riders had all returned negative tests and would continue to race, but will be subject to additional testing.
Yates, the 2018 Vuelta a España winner, had entered the Giro as one of the pre-race favourites after his victory in Tirreno-Adriatico last month. But he struggled on Monday’s stage three on Mount Etna, finishing more than three minutes down on the main group of overall contenders. The Bury rider sat 21st overall, three minutes and 52 seconds behind the race leader, João
Almeida, after Friday’s stage seven to Brindisi.
Yates’s exit means that both of Britain’s GC contenders in the race are out after Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas suffered a fractured pelvis in a freak accident with a stray bottle in the neutralised zone of stage three, withdrawing from the race a day later.
Dowsett rode away from his fellow escapees inside the final 20km and used his time trialling skills to take victory by 75 seconds, sealing the second Giro stage win of his career after a time trial win in 2013, and a first grand tour victory for his young team.
Israel Start-Up Nation may be signing Chris Froome next year, but Dowsett’s own future is uncertain in the final months of his contract, making this victory all the more significant. “It’s been such a tough year,” said Dowsett, who is due to become a father in the coming months. “Just all the uncertainty and trying to work out how I’m going to get to next year and still be racing, still be doing what I love, and still being able to put food on the table for three of us rather than two come January. Hopefully this will help secure something for next year.”
Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal) was beaten to second by Salvatore Puccio (Ineos Grenadiers), while the peloton eventually rolled home almost 14 minutes behind, with DeceuninckQuick-Step’s Almeida retaining the pink jersey and a 43-second lead over Pello Bilbao of Bahrain-McLaren. There was no change at the top of the overall classification, with Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) and Steven Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo-Visma) still bunched up closely behind.