Astana had two players (Yuriy Natalov and Vadim Plonsky) competing in the Grande Partenza in Sicily who were in close contact with teammate Zandos Bizitov, who tested positive for coronavirus and has COVID-19 symptoms, He was forced to call up two replacements for the Giro d'Italia roster.

Natalov and Plonsky, part of the Kazakhstan team for the UCI World Championships, started the elite men's road race with Bizigitov but failed to finish. Plonsky finished 49th and Natalov 74th.

Another Astana athlete, Alexey Lutsenko, also tested positive for COVID-19 before the World Championships and was quarantined. Lutsenko is asymptomatic and awaits retesting to confirm the virus.

Jonas Gregard Willsley and Rodrigo Contreras will replace Natalov and Plonsky. Both were in La Flèche Wallonne in Belgium, but Gregard did not start and Contreras finished the race in 139th place.

"It is unfortunate that Yuriy Natalov and Vadim Plonsky had to withdraw from the race as they would have made their debut at the Giro d'Italia, but the rules are very strict," Astana general manager Alexandre Vinokurov said in a team press release.

"We are sorry that we had to withdraw from the tournament.

"Even if they were asymptomatic, they were in close contact with Zandos Bizigitov and could have spread the virus to their colleagues. We hope that Zandos Bizigitov will recover soon and that future tests will be negative so that all other athletes can participate in future races."

The Giro d'Italia will start in Sicily on Saturday, a change from its usual May date due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The UCI shut down all events in mid-March and racing resumed in July as cases declined. However, as the number of infections increased again in the Netherlands, government officials again tightened regulations, forcing the cancellation of the Amstel Gold Race and changes to the Bink Bank Tour.