Bakelants' season over after he contracts COVID-19

Jan Bakelants is out for the remainder of the season after contracting COVID-19 on Friday, according to his Circus-Wanty Gobert team.

The Belgian tested negative for the coronavirus that has caused a global pandemic that has killed over a million people on Tuesday before racing Brabantse Pijl. He was symptom-free until Friday when he began experiencing "mild symptoms" after training alone, and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.

"The health of Jan is good and the symptoms stay mild," the team's head physician Joost De Maeseneer said. "Following the medical protocol of our team and the UCI, Jan will stay in isolation at home during at least seven days. He will not take part in races anymore in 2020."

Bakelants was due to race Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, but will be replaced by Ludwig De Winter.

With the cancellation of Paris-Roubaix on October 25, and Circus-Wanty not in the Vuelta a España, there are no races left for Bakelants to compete in after he finishes a 14-day quarantine.

The team said that no other team members were in direct contact with Bakelants since he returned home from the Brabantse Pijl and all of the tests taken before the race were negative, so no other rider from the team will be quarantined. The entire team will be tested again before competing in Gent-Wevelgem.

Bakelants is the second rider to return a positive COVID-19 test in the past days after Mitchelton-Scott's Simon Yates came down with the virus at the Giro d'Italia.