COVID-19 has caused havoc in the men's Tour de France, with rosters being replaced just before the start and riders and staff having to abandon the race after testing positive.

And now the women's peloton is also being affected by this latest wave of COVID-19 in the Giro d'Italia donne.

But it is not just the virus that is causing riders to drop out. Crashes in this and other races have caused riders to drop out of already understaffed teams, even though only three stages of the 10-day event have taken place.

The absences were noted even before the race began, with some riders not starting the 4.7km prologue in Cagliari on Thursday.

Team SD Walks, the defending Giro Donne champion, replaced Christine Majerus before the start after Anna Shackley tested positive for COVID-19. And on Saturday, Roneke Uneken did not start the third stage, the reason for which is not yet known.

Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) also did not start the race. No explanation was given by the team, but the 40-year-old Australian also did not start the final stage of the Tour de Suisse women's race, held the week before the Giro, after crashing the day before.

Another UAE Tam ADQ rider, Laura Tomassi, did not start the prologue, but no reason for Tomassi's absence has been announced by the team.

Also, Team DSM's Floortje Mackaij did not start Thursday's race in Cagliari after testing positive for COVID-19.

Several more riders were registered as "DNS" the following day. German rider Hannah Ludwig (Uno-X) was one of them, as was teammate Isotta Barbieri's teammate Anna Potockina of Serveto-Makimo-Beltrami TSA, who did not finish the stage.

Canadian climber Olivia Baril of Valcar Travel & Service was involved in a crash on stage 2 and did not complete stage 3. Victoria Melnychuk of Servet-Makimo-Beltrami TSA also failed to finish, leaving the team with just three riders.

With a rest day on Sunday, at least nine fewer athletes will be on the start line on Monday.

Cycling News will bring you race reports, galleries, results, exclusive features and news from all 10 stages of the Giro d'Italia Donne.