Giro d'Italia race director Mauro Veni defended the race's COVID-19 coronavirus protocol after EF Pro Cycling's appeal to cancel the race after Sunday's stage to Piancavallo was rejected.

EF Pro Cycling asked the UCI and RCS Sport to cancel the Giro on the second day of rest due to a "clearly dangerous bubble," but was rejected by the UCI.

Mitchelton Scott and Jumbo Visma left the Giro on Tuesday after an inspection on the first rest day confirmed COVID-19. Since the Giro began in Palermo, a total of three riders and six staff members in five teams have tested positive for COVID-19.

Veni insisted that the Giro d'Italia will do everything in its power to finish in Milan on Sunday, October 25.

"I think these are the same measures that all organizers at some level have adopted. These are measures that have been adopted in other races, and I don't see why the Giro is seen as worse than other races," Veni told reporters, including Cycling News, at the Cesenatico press center after the finish of stage 12.

"There were eight positives on the first rest day; we are in October and on the rise. Today [in Italy] there were nearly 9,000 positive cases. [But again, this virus was not discovered today. It is a virus that exists and one that we will probably have to fight all next year. We need to have the courage to move on. We need to move forward, not just in cycling, but as a community. We need to look forward and fight with our heads held high."

News of EF Pro Cycling's request to cancel the Giro came to light on Thursday afternoon when the letter and UCI reply were leaked to Eurosport.

Asked if EF Procycling contacted him directly with their concerns, Veni replied: "I think it was written between the teams, I have not met EF director Jonathan Vaughters. I spoke to the team this morning and they didn't know either.

Concerns about the Giro bubble were further heightened on Thursday morning when it was revealed that 17 police officers marshalling the Giro E-Bike event on the same road hours before the main event tested positive for COVID-19.

RCS Sport confirmed the positive tests, but stressed that the officers accompanying the Giro E were not part of the race bubble and had no contact with Giro d'Italia staff or police.

Thomas de Gendt said that the Lotto-Soudal team discussed whether to continue the Giro on the team bus before stage 12 after learning of the positive case of the Giro-E police officer The Belgian journalist, speaking to Sporza, also expressed doubt whether the positive case was limited to the Giro-E The Belgian journalist interviewed by Sporza also expressed doubt as to whether the positives were limited to Giro-E.

"I called his team manager during the race and told him that when he says something he needs to be careful with what he says. It is very serious that we could have fixed the result, and there are international health issues involved," Veni said, admitting that the riders would have been alarmed by the headlines they read on their way to the start on Thursday morning.

"I hope they will calm down tonight when they know the full story," he said.

The UCI denied EF Pro Cycling's request to cancel the Giro, but the governing body said a general screening of teams would take place on Thursday and Friday, in addition to the next round of PCR testing scheduled for Monday's second day of rest.

"I respect the riders and their concerns.

"The people around you who are supposed to be creating a peaceful bubble around you should not behave this way. Also, there was some incorrect behavior on the part of the team in the bubble, but we will leave it at that."