‘I’ll wear it with pride’: Geraint Thomas in pink jersey as Covid hits Giro d’Italia

Geraint Thomas will wear the race leader’s jersey on Tuesday in the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia following the withdrawal, late on Sunday night, of the race leader Remco Evenepoel following a positive test for Covid-19.

The 23-year-old Belgian had been the outstanding favourite to take final victory in Rome on 28 May, but after a weary performance on Sunday in the 35-kilometre time trial, in which he beat the 36-year-old Thomas by a single second, he withdrew that evening. The world road race champion relinquished the leader’s pink jersey, or maglia rosa, to Thomas.

“Leading the race is a massive honour,” the 2018 Tour de France winner said, “but at the same time it’s not the way you want to take the lead. But it’s what’s happened and that’s the way it is. So yes, I’ll wear it with pride.”

Thomas said he was “shocked” when he heard, direct from Evenepoel himself on Sunday evening, that he was leaving the race. “I speak to him a bit and he messaged me, just before his announcement. At first, I thought: ‘Is he winding me up?’ But it’s a huge disappointment, even for me. I was looking forward to a really good battle. It’s a huge disappointment for everyone.”

Covid-19 has already exerted a significant influence on the Giro this year, forcing a hasty reshuffle on the part of Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma team shortly before the race started. Thomas said his Ineos Grenadiers team would now be further tightening their own health protocols.

“I guess we need to be a lot more aware of it and go back to what we used to,” he said, “when we were in our own little bubble and wearing masks, in public spaces. I guess as a team we’re going to go back to that kind of strategy.”

Despite the presence of the virus in the peloton, there has