Aleksandr Vlasov was one of 30 riders who were forced to retire from the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse, which was impacted by the coronavirus on Friday. Nico Denz took the stage win.

After the 180 km ride from Locarno to Moosalp, which included the 2,478 m-high Nufenen Pass, Denz outran Clement Champoussin and Jose Herrada to claim the victory.

The overall leader’s yellow jersey is now worn by Jakob Fuglsang of Israel-Premier Tech after Vlasov was forced to withdraw from the race after testing positive for Covid-19.

Adam Yates of Ineos and the entire Jumbo-Visma squad were forced to withdraw before the fifth stage for the same reason, and Vlasov joined them. Affected teams included EF Education-Easypost, who lost four riders, including Rigoberto Uran, and Vlasov’s teammate Anton Palzer.

With a mountain finish following the 196-kilometer race from Ambri to Malbun, Saturday’s seventh and penultimate stage favors climbers once more.