Belgian Remco Evenepoel, from Soudal Quick-Step, has just announced that after winning the time trial and rising as the overall leader, he will not continue in the Giro d'Italia as he has just tested positive for covid-19.

“With a heavy heart I have to announce that I will abandon the Giro d'Italia due to covid-19, after undergoing a routine test that unfortunately came back positive,” reported the current pink jersey of the competition.

Just a few hours after being the fastest in the 35-kilometre time trial between Savignano sul Rubicone and Cesena, in the Emilia-Romagna region, the 23-year-old Belgian will not be able to fight to keep the pink jersey that accredits him as leader of the general classification.

“My experience here has been really special and I was really looking forward to racing in the next two weeks.. I cannot thank the staff and riders enough who sacrificed so much in preparation for the Giro.. I am still very proud to leave with two stage victories and four pink jerseys,” he said.

For its part, his team, Soudal Quick-Step, announced that the rest of the team underwent tests and all were negative.

It is not the first positive case in the Corsa Rosa, which a few days ago fired Filippo Ganna for the same reason.