Alex Dowsett backs call to miss race after team-mate’s positive coronavirus test

Alex Dowsett said it was the “right decision” for him to be withdrawn from the Vuelta a Burgos on Tuesday after a team-mate tested positive for coronavirus.

The British time trial champion had been due to race for Israel Start-Up Nation in the first UCI Pro Series event since racing was suspended in March due to the pandemic.

But he was withdrawn from the race along with Itamar Einhorn after their team-mate Omer Goldstein, who was not due to race in Spain but had been in contact with Einhorn, returned a positive test.

Dowsett and Einhorn later returned negative tests but only after the race had begun.

“It’s a big disappointment that I did not take the start of Vuelta a Burgos,” Dowsett said in a statement. “But even the tiny the risk of me returning a positive test for COVID caused us to act responsibly and reassuringly for the whole peloton so that everyone can put their mind at ease.

“The team made the right decision to ensure that the bubble is absolutely secure.”

Austrian Felix Grossschartner won the opening stage, covering 157 kilometres and starting and finishing in Burgos, for Bora-Hansgrohe.

The race has attracted a strong field which includes Bahrain-McLaren’s Mark Cavendish and Mitchelton-Scott’s Simon Yates.