Havana, May 16 (RHC)-- British cyclist Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) exposes today his overall leadership in the Giro d'Italia, when stage 10 is disputed from the town of Scandiano to the city of Viareggio over 196 kilometers.

Thomas will try to take advantage of the hilly sections in the middle of the route and a finish favorable for the sprinters to consolidate his lead in the traditional race.

The Briton leads the competition with a time of 34:34.27 hours, followed by Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and his compatriot and teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart, two and five seconds behind, respectively.

Organizers of the 106th edition of the Giro d'Italia confirmed Monday the withdrawal of Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), previous race leader, after testing positive for Covid-19.

"I'm very sorry to leave the race. As part of the team protocol, I had a routine test, which unfortunately came back positive. My experience here has been really special and I was really looking forward to racing in the next two weeks," said the rider.

The Belgian's withdrawal generated many doubts among cycling fans around the world, because the medical protocol did not oblige anyone to go home just for being positive.

The Belgian, winner of the stage nine individual time trial to regain the leader's pink jersey, could have waited until today to quit racing.

Soudal-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere called for privacy regarding Evenepoel and insisted on the need to protect his health, despite having mild symptoms of the disease.

"We and the Giro will miss you, but we are sure that more opportunities to show you will come sooner or later!" the Belgian was told by his team.