Time loss of the prodigy explained: After Almeida, UAE-Team Emirates suffers a new COVID-19 victim in the Vuelta...

Del Toro was well on his way to the top ten in the first week, but things went terribly wrong for the UAE-Team Emirates prodigy over the weekend. On Saturday, he managed to limit the damage, but on Sunday, Del Toro finished in the back, more than 35 minutes behind the winner. As a result, he plummeted to 39th place in the standings, on the day Adam Yates made gains for the overall classification with a stage win.

It seems the cards are being reshuffled every day at the UAE-Team Emirates headquarters. João Almeida seemed to be the best man in the first week, especially after Yates lost minutes due to a crash. However, Almeida did not start on day nine due to a coronavirus infection, something that is spreading within the team. Despite this, Yates is still in seventh place in the standings, and Pavel Sivakov is also well placed in eleventh.

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Del Toro showed some improvement the day after the first rest day, as he finished with the group of favorites. However, it will likely take some time before he is back to his old self. It is reported that he has mild coronavirus symptoms, allowing him to continue racing. Del Toro is predicted to have a bright future with his team, having won the Tour de l'Avenir last year, and this season he finished third in the Tour Down Under, fourth in the Tirreno-Adriatico, and won the overall in Burgos. It's no wonder he has a contract with Tadej Pogacar's team until the end of 2029.

Nevertheless, the team is still being plagued by COVID-19. In the Tour de France, it was Juan Ayuso who dropped out due to the virus, with Yates and Tim Wellens also being ill. Pogacar contracted the virus before the Tour, giving him immunity. The big question is whether more UAE riders will test positive for the coronavirus, which is clearly still spreading in 2024. Laurens De Plus already quit the race in stage 10 after testing positive.