Soudal - Quick-Step doctor doesn't fear epidemic in the Giro d'Italia peloton: "When you're tired you're just more susceptible to illness"

The rest day in the Giro has reduced the number of riders in the race quite significantly: no fewer than 4 riders did not start on Tuesday with stage 9 winner Olav Kooij, Max Kanter, Ethan Vernon and Marius Mayrhofer as victims. And striking: all four suffer from similar symptoms.

Should we worry about a virus floating around in the peloton? "I don't think so," Toon Cruyt, team doctor at Soudal - Quick-Step, evaluated in an interview for Sporza.

"It has been a very intensive first week and the riders are already a bit tired. Quite a few have respiratory problems. We also had someone with bronchitis ourselves, but fortunately he responded well to the antibiotics."

Could spring pollen play a role? "Just because you see a lot of fluff flying doesn't mean it's worse," says Cruyt. "And most riders who are allergic to pollen already take something preventive."

Cruyt therefore does not believe that there is an epidemic in the peloton. "I think it's about individual problems. When you're tired you're just more susceptible to illness."

However, it has to be said that over the past few days alone some of the Giro's main figures in Cian Uijtdebroeks, Olav Kooij and Alexey Lutsenko - to name a few - have all abandoned the race due to falling ill.