GIRO D’ITALIA INTO THE UNKNOWN

Mauro Vegni hadn’t yet finished drying his hands when a group of journalists doorstepped him in the dimly lit corridor outside the press room in Cesenatico. A gloomy, rain-soaked afternoon on the Adriatic coast had taken on yet darker hues after the finish of stage 12, when it emerged that EF Pro Cycling had asked for the Giro d’Italia to be brought to a halt a week ahead of time, citing what it called a “clearly compromised” coronavirus bubble. The request was immediately rejected by the UCI, but the very suggestion posed an immediate existential threat to the race.

The morning had already brought storm clouds, when Thomas De Gendt revealed that his Lotto Soudal squad had debated leaving the race after 17 police officers on the Giro’s accompanying e-bike event tested positive for covid. Forty eight hours earlier, Vegni had responded calmly to Jumbo-Visma and Mitchelton-Scott’s decision to abandon en masse after recording positive tests on the rest day, but now the race director’s quivering voice betrayed his growing anxiety.

“I respect the riders and the fears of the riders, because obviously we’re talking about health,” Vegni said, shaking his hands dry as he spoke. “But the people who are supposed to be creating a bubble of calm around them shouldn’t be behaving in this way. There have also been incorrect behaviours