Andreas Leknessund: "It's very sad that Remco had to leave the race"

Andreas Leknessund and Remco Evenepoel have so far shared the Maglia Rosa during the first 9 stages of the 2023 Giro d'Italia. With the Belgian's sad abandonment due to covid, Leknessund admits it is a loss for the race.

"It's very sad that Remco had to leave the race, we knew he could potentially win. It's very sad for him," the 23-year-old Norwegian revealed in a rest day press conference. "Each team and each rider must make decisions. We have doctors in the teams and on the race, who know how to manage these situations, and who can act if we have symptoms. It is not not my responsibility to talk about any of this, because I know that the doctors make the right decisions."

Following Evenepoel's departure, Leknessund now sits in 5th on the general classification, 1:03 down on the new Maglia Rosa, INEOS Grenadiers's Geraint Thomas and just 58 seconds behind the Welshman's teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart and a place on the podium. No matter what happens to the Team DSM leader from now until the end of the race though it's fair to say this Giro has been a success for Leknessund.

"We were good on almost all the stages. I had 5 days in pink and some of us got top 10 results. I think we started our Giro well. The pink jersey was the biggest event, but with such a start I'm sure we'll continue to get more good results," he explains. "We have guys who can sprint, others who can take the breakaways, there are opportunities for the team. It's already a very good Giro for the team and me, and I have confidence , I think it will continue."