As the three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race nears its final day, the roster of Giro d’Italia riders is looking a little thinner than it started after COVID-19 sent 16 participants home. The Giro, which started at the Grande Partenza in Abruzzo with 176 riders, now sees only 125 with the chance to cross the finish line—a cutback by 51, and a decrease since the recent low of 133 finishers in the 2020 pandemic-hit race. World champion and race favorite Remco Evenepoel got knocked out of the race by the virus May 14, the same day he closed the ninth stage with an individual time trial win and the highly-sought pink jersey. At Stage 11, four of Evenepoel’s Soudal-QuickStep teammates also fell ill with COVID, which leaves the team currently at only two bikers. Latest reports show Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič in the lead and in line to be the Giro’s overall victor.
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