Cycling: How the Giro d’Italia stands

The Giro d’Italia has been hit by the news Remco Evenepoel has been forced to withdraw through illness and the race for the general classification is now wide open.

Evenepoel was the hot fancy to win the general classification following an encouraging start to the Giro, which saw him sit top of the pile following nine stages. 

The superstar Belgian won stage nine, pipping Geraint Thomas by one second in the individual time trial to regain the pink jersey. 

However after discovering he was sick in the aftermath of the stage he was forced to withdraw. The news is a huge blow to Evenepoel, his team Soudal Quickstep, the organisers and all cycling fans keen to see the very best battle it out. 

Even so, it could be argued that the rest of the Giro will be even more exciting without Evenepoel as there are now a handful of riders with genuine chances of winning it.

How things stand 

Monday was a rest day for the Giro, giving everyone the chance to let the news sink in that Evenepoel will play no further part. 

Following stage nine, Evenepoel had returned to the top of the general classification, but not by the margin he had hoped for. 

It was good news for the neutral as it kept the contenders nicely packed together. But now he is out, it is even tighter at the top. 

Ineos star Geraint Thomas is now leading the way on 34hrs 34mins 27 secs, just three seconds ahead of Jumbo Visma’s Primoz Roglic. 

Ineos team-mate Tao Geoghegan Hart is five seconds behind, while Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates is +22 secs.

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The main contenders 

As long as there are no further issues with illness and riders crashing out, the winner of the Giro d’Italia is likely to come from the above mention top four. 

Primoz Roglic looked strong on stage eight when dropping Evenepoel on the final climb of the day and he is priced at 1.72 to win the Giro. 

However Ineos duo Thomas and Geoghegan Hart will have something to say about that. The duo were with Roglic at the death on stage eight and also rode very strong time trials on Sunday. 

The fact that there are two of them working together will also work in their favour. Along with the fact that Ineos are riding very well as a team and will give their two leaders all the support they need. Geoghegan Hart can be backed at 3.25, Thomas 4.00.  

Almeida is the outsider of the quartet at 13.00 and he has yet to shine. His time trial was disappointing on Sunday and he has plenty of work to do when the Giro moves to the high mountains. That is where the winner of the Giro will be decided, in the final week.

Others in the mix 

There is still a long way to go and the winner of the Giro d’Italia will only be decided in the final week when they head to the mountains. 

With that in mind, a number of other riders will still have hopes of scooping the general classification. 

Two in particular are Aleksandr Vlasov of Bora-Hansgrohe and Damien Caruso of Bahrain Victorious. They are +1 min 3secs and +1min 28 secs respectively. 

That time difference could easily be wiped out in the final week if they can find their climbing legs. Vlasov is priced at 41.00, while Caruso can be backed at 26.00.