Several cyclists, including riders due to start the Giro d’Italia this week, fell ill after a Belgian one-day race, with cow manure on the roads suspected to be the cause.
Three Lotto–Intermarche riders suffered from abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fever and vomiting, and were briefly hospitalised, the team said from Bulgaria,where the Giro begins on Saturday NZT.
Arnaud De Lie, the winner of the Famenne Ardenne Classic on Sunday who is expected to be the Belgian team’s leader at the Giro, initially showed no symptoms before feeling nauseous during the flight to Bulgaria.
“He’s not feeling well, but his participation in the Giro is not compromised at this stage,” the team said of De Lie. Only five of Lotto’s eight riders were able to attend the race presentation on Wednesday.
According to Belgian broadcaster Sporza, other teams such as Alpecin have also been affected, while French rider Maxime Bouet, quoted by his team Arkea, said that “half the peloton is ill”.
Lotto said the riders may have been contaminated by cow manure on the Ardennes course, with wet roads causing excrement to be splashed onto riders.
Although the exact cause has not yet been confirmed, Campylobacter – a type of bacteria responsible for gastrointestinal infections – is suspected to be the source.
