Patrick Lefevere about Jumbo-Visma's bad luck: "I sympathize with them"

It is a very important day for Patrick Lefevere and Soudal Quick-Step. The Belgian team and especially Remco Evenepoel will start the Giro d'Italia on Saturday. They are currently still doing this unscathed, in contrast to major competitor Jumbo-Visma.

In his weekly column in Het Nieuwsblad, Lefevere talks about the bad luck of his Dutch competitors. “I sympathize with Jumbo-Visma: first the Covid cases and then also a collision during training. In the meantime they have had to replace five riders from their original Giro team. We experienced it in the Tour last year. We had eighteen positive cases. Not a single rider, but within the staff the havoc was enormous. We even had to replace the bus driver.”

“Our team for the Giro was spared so far. Everyone – including me – was extensively tested beforehand. On Covid, flu and RSV. We have a simple protocol: before departure, everyone posts a photo of the triple negative test in the group of the team, along with a watch or phone on which the date and time can be seen,” the manager adds.

By that time, Jumbo-Visma already run out of reserves for Giro d'Italia, thus the last minute replacement for Jan Tratnik, Thomas Gloag, was not expecting to be called to race at all.