(Reuters) – Triple world champion Peter Sagan of Bora-Hansgrohe earned his first stage victory in the Giro d’Italia after he claimed the 10th stage in wet conditions on Tuesday, hours after two teams pulled out due to positive COVID-19 cases.
Slovak Sagan, 30, won the 177km mountain trek between Lanciano and Tortoreto in a time of just over four hours with UAE Team Emirates’ American rider Brandon McNulty finishing second, 19 seconds behind.
Portuguese Joao Almeida of Deceuninck-Quickstep extended his lead at the top of the general classification as he finished third.
Earlier, the Mitchelton-Scott team withdrew after four staff members tested positive following top rider Simon Yates pulling out last week while Jumbo-Visma, whose leader Steven Kruisjwijk tested positive, said they would not start the 10th stage.
Wednesday’s 11th stage is a 182km route from Porto Sant’Elpidio to Rimini.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
