Thomas De Gendt feels “unsafe” in the Giro: “It is going...

“I have to be honest: my head is not really focused on races after the news of the 17 infected police officers”, Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) said to Renaat Schotte straight away.

“Things are going in the bad direction in this Giro. We have been discussing with the riders in the team for 20 minutes whether or not to start because we are starting to feel unsafe”, it sounded half an hour before the start.

“That the agents only accompanied the Giro-E (a recreational version for electric cyclists)? Yes, yes, yes, yes … That’s an explanation they give to it.”

“There have been more than 10 cases and yesterday you heard several riders coughing. It’s the season of the colds, but eventually you can’t concentrate.”

“There are riders who prefer not to start, others do. Everyone is free to do so. I am one of the riders who would rather not start. Everyone chooses for themselves.”

“If you stop, it’s over. But you can also keep going until it’s too late. Do I feel unsafe? It’s going in the wrong direction. It’s not so much for myself, but also for my family. I want to don’t light anyone.

Thomas De Gendt and his team mates signed the starting sheet (“because that must”) and then the discussion continued in the team bus. “If I leave the choice to others, then I start.”

“If you wait for your team, the organization or the government, then it will be too late. At the moment I do not have the balls to say that I will not start, but that may soon be the case”, said De Gendt. who therefore jumped on his bike.

“I thought it was much safer in the Tour. I didn’t feel unsafe there at any point. But I have the feeling that the organization is hiding things and putting a twist on it.”

“There is a lot of money involved and for sponsors it is very important that we go to Milan. They are waiting for the government to make a decision and those decisions come too late.”