Colombian Egan Bernal is isolating with mild symptoms after contracting Covid-19, less than a week after he won the three-week Giro d'Italia cycling race, his personal communications team said on Friday.
Also a winner of the Tour de France Bernal and his girlfriend Maria Fernanda Gutierrez took a coronavirus test before traveling home to Colombia from Monaco "and have just been informed of the test results in which both are infected with the virus," the cyclist's press team said in a statement.
A source from the Colombian Cycling Federation confirmed to AFP the authenticity of the statement.
The 24-year-old remains "in quarantine in Monaco" and neither he nor Gutierrez have shown any signs of "complications," the statement said.
Bernal stormed to Giro victory in May after dominating the first two weeks of the race, before holding off spirited resistance from Briton Simon Yates and Italy's Damiano Caruso in the final few days.
He stormed onto the scene in 2019 by winning the Tour de France, cycling's most prestigious race, even beating his Ineos Grenadiers teammate and reigning champion Geraint Thomas into second.
In doing so he became the first Latin American to win the race and at 22 was the youngest champion since 1909.
Egan Bernal has tested positive for COVID-19 following a routine test on Thursday ahead of his planned return to Colombia this weekend.
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 4, 2021