Astana was forced to call two alternates for his line-up in the Giro d’Italia after two runners from the Major Partenza lineup in Sicily, Yuriy Natarov and Vadim Pronskiy, were in close contact with teammate Zhandos Bizhigitov, who tested positive for coronavirus. and is symptomatic with COVID-19.
Natarov and Pronskiy were part of the Kazakhstan team for the ICU World Championships with Bizhigitov, who has not yet completed the elite men’s road race. Pronskiy and Natarov finished 49th and 74th respectively.
Another Astana driver, Alexey Lutsenko, also tested positive for COVID-19 before the World Championship and isolated. Lutsenko is asymptomatic and is waiting for a moment of review to verify the virus.
Natarov and Pronskiy will be replaced by Jonas Gregaard Wilsly and Rodrigo Contreras. Both drivers were in Belgium for La Floche Wallonne – Gregaard left while Contreras finished the race in 139th place.
“It is unfortunate that we had to withdraw Yuriy Natarov and Vadim Pronskiy, as they would all have made their changes in the Giro d’Italia, but the protocol is very strict,” Astana executive leader Alexandr Vinokurov said in the team’s press release.
“Even if they were asymptomatic, they may have simply spread the virus among their colleagues because they were in close contact with Zhandos Bizhigitov. We hope that Zhandos Bizhigitov will do so soon and that all other cyclists will test negative in the next era to make sure they can take part in the next races. “
The Giro d’Italia begins on Saturday in Sicily after the race was postponed from its general schedule in May due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The ICU closed all occasions in mid-March and, as instances declined, races resumed in July; however, an increase in instances in the Netherlands led government officials to impose restrictions again, which led to the cancellation of the Amstel Gold Race and forcing adjustments to the BinckBank Tour.
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