Several cyclists, including riders due to start the Giro d’Italia today, fell ill after a Belgian one-day race, with cow manure on the roads suspected to be the cause.
Three Lotto-Intermarche riders reported from abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and vomiting, and were briefly hospitalized, the team said from Bulgaria, where the Giro is to begin today.
Arnaud de Lie, the winner of the Famenne Ardenne Classic on Sunday who is expected to be the Belgian team’s leader at the Giro, initially showed no symptoms before feeling nauseous during the flight to Bulgaria.
Photo: AP
“He’s not feeling well, but his participation in the Giro is not compromised at this stage,” the team said of De Lie.
Only five of Lotto’s eight riders attended the race presentation yesterday.
According to Belgian broadcaster Sporza, other teams such as Alpecin have also been affected, while Lotto sport director Maxime Bouet said that “half the peloton is ill.”
Lotto said the riders might have been contaminated by cow manure on the Ardennes course, with wet roads causing excrement to be splashed onto riders.
Although the exact cause has not yet been confirmed, Campylobacter — a type of bacteria responsible for gastrointestinal infections — is suspected to be the source.
Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard is targeting a victory on his Giro d’Italia debut that would see him join an exclusive club of cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours.
Vingegaard, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and the Vuelta a Espana last year, is among the favorites at the Giro.
“Taking on this challenge, which is new to me, is exactly what I needed. I can’t wait to get started; my goal is to win the Giro d’Italia in Rome,” the Visma-Lease a Bike rider told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published on Wednesday.
“For several years, my competitive schedule has been very similar. I felt the need for a change,” he said. “The Giro is a major goal, and I’m convinced that these few weeks will help me reach peak form for the Tour as well.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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