The Dutch Jumbo-Visma team has made the decision to pull out of the Giro d'Italia before stage 10. The news comes after team leader Steven Kruijswijk confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19 after a routine test on a rest day.

Kruijswijk was in 11th place overall in the Giro and a genuine contender for the title, but on Tuesday, race organizers announced that four staff members from Kruijswijk, Michael Mathews (Team Sunweb), Mitchelton Scott, Ineos Grenadier and AG2R One staff member each from La Mondiale tested positive for the virus.

Jumbo Visma announced their withdrawal from the race 30 minutes before the start of stage 10 on Tuesday. They did not show up at the start line and issued an official statement after the official sign-on procedure.

The news follows Mitchelton Scott's decision to leave the race after four staff members tested positive. The Australian team had already lost Simon Yates, who tested positive during the first week of the race.

Race organizer RCS Sport conducted a total of 571 tests on Giro d'Italia riders and team staff. The tests were conducted from Sunday night through Monday morning, and all RT-PCR swabs were sent to Milan to be tested in a private laboratory. Further testing will be performed on the race staff on Wednesday.

"The most important thing for Steven is his health. That is his top priority right now. He missed the Tour de France and then he had this bad luck, but what happened today is a global problem. It is getting worse and worse in the Netherlands and this is 2020. It's a big disappointment, but it happens to cyclists," team director Merijn Zeeman told Cyclingnews.

"We did everything we could to protect Steven and the rest of the team in the Giro. It's a very difficult situation, but a lot of people go through this. He is asymptomatic but he has to recover and his family has to stay healthy. I have spoken with him on the phone and he is in quarantine. It is very unrealistic, but this is the world now and as I said, the most important thing is his health and the health of his family."

At the start of stage 10, team director Adi Engels told the media, including Cycling News, the reasons for Jumbo Visma's decision.

"In our opinion, this is the most responsible decision and the only positive case in the team is Stevie. We are all close to him and in light of the one case that happened to Mitchelton and the four new cases, we decided to make the most responsible decision, taking into account the health of the riders and staff," Engels told the press.

"It has been a roller coaster ride and that is why his decision was made. He made the decision together with the management. We took into account the opinion of the riders, the staff and of course the management. Being out of the race is a big deal, especially in a case like this.

"The riders have been in touch with Stevie and if they continue for another week, it could be a couple more pluses. This is the safest way for us, for the team, and for the continuation of the Giro."

Jumbo Visma's withdrawal from the race leaves a question mark over his participation in the Vuelta a España, scheduled to start next week. The team plans to use both Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin, but Engels did not mention any other races or registered riders.

"I don't know. We don't know what the future holds. It's just speculation. As for the Vuelta, it's impossible for me to say. We made the best decision here and it was taken just a few minutes ago. The players made this decision in a good way."