Davide Ballerini about Giro d'Italia without his team's leader: “It is up to us to turn the page"
Cycling
For Remco Evenepoel, the Giro d'Italia is over after nine days. The World champion tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday after the time trial to Cesena he won and has to go home. And that while Evenepoel was in the lead of the general classification. Soudal - Quick-Step now looks to move on.
His teammate Davide Ballerini also reacted to the withdrawal of his leader on the first rest day. "What can I say? It was a huge blow. So much work went into the preparation. So it is difficult to deal with this.” The Italian was brought as a domestique for the flat days, and has spent large kilometers towards the head of the peloton in the first week of the race.
However, Ballerini does not want to give up. “It is up to us to turn the page and stay motivated. The team will now do everything it can to win another stage,” the Italian rider tells Het Laatste Nieuws.
Evenepoel is currently the only rider of Soudal - Quick-Step who has tested positive for Covid however cases keep emerging daily, and lead to the risk of more GC contenders abandoning the race later on.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
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