Evenepoel out, Mauro Vegni announces anti-Covid measures at Giro d’Italia

Masks return to the Giro d’Italia

Remco Evenepoel’s resounding withdrawal from the Giro d’Italia 2023 due to Covid, only hours after regaining the pink jersey at the conclusion of the Cesena time trial, has riders and insiders alike debating, so much so that Mauro Vegni, director of the Corsa Rosa, announced the return of some restrictions that had been removed this year, complicit with WHO’s decision to sanction the end of the health emergency.

“We let up a little too soon on the focus,” Vegni told ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport,’ “We need to continue to keep our guard up. We will start as early as this week. We will put back some restrictions that had been abolished, such as the requirement to wear masks in areas where you come into contact with runners, at the start and finish. They will not be work restrictions, but anyone who wants to interact with runners will have to have a mask. Should we have done this earlier? Probably yes.”

Vegni, among other things, also shed light on decisions regarding forced withdrawals due to Covid: “There is no longer the protocol that there was before (…). This means that any team can do Covid tests if they want to. Someone can decide to stop the rider for health reasons, someone can decide to let him continue,” he explained.