"We now wear plastic gloves at breakfast" - Sickness bug at Soudal - Quick-Step worries Remco Evenepoel

Remco Evenepoel was sadly forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia whilst in the Maglia Rosa earlier this year due to testing positive for covid. As a sickness bug threatens to run rampant through Soudal - Quick-Step once again, there are plenty of worries at the Vuelta a Espana.

"The day before yesterday they both had a very bad night. And yesterday they indeed suffered," confesses sports director Klaas Lodewyck before the start of the tough 6th stage in reference to both Andrea Bagioli and Louis Vervaeke, although Bagioli has since abandoned. "We hope it will be better today, but you can never be sure. We are worried, although there is not much we can do."

In his own pre-stage interview, Evenepoel himself spoke of the concerns and the measures that are being put in place to stop a repeat of this year's Giro d'Italia debacle.

"We now wear plastic gloves at breakfast," says the Belgian. "And we also wash our hands more often. It's annoying, but we're not alone. I've seen guys standing by the side for a 'big message'. There is still some around. Let's hope it's over soon."