Tadej Pogacar was infected with COVID-19 during his Tour de France preparations
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates fellow riders leave for a team training in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Tadej Pogacar was infected with COVID-19 during his Tour de France preparations, the two-time champion revealed Thursday — two days before the race starts in Italy.
UAE Team Emirates riders with Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, left, line up during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
The Slovenian is aiming for the rare Tour and Giro d’Italia double after dominating the Italian race last month.
Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021, said that the virus only prevented him from training for one day.
“It’s not as serious anymore. Especially if your body already had the virus before and I had it once or twice,” Pogačar said, adding that he caught the virus about 10 days ago. “It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold. It passed really fast.
Cylings fans raise their hands to catch the water bottle of Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
“I stopped for one day and then (did) some rollers inside,” he added. “Then when I wasn’t sick anymore, I was riding outside.”
Pogacar has been dominant this season, winning four of the five races he's entered and collecting 14 victories in 31 days of racing — including Strade Bianche and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar greets spectators as he lines up with his UAE Team Emirates riders for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
The last rider to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year was Marco Pantani in 1998.
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators as he arrives for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
After back-to-back Tour titles, Pogacar then finished runner-up to Jonas Vingegaard the last two years.
Vingegaard was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in April following a high-speed crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. He sustained a broken collarbone and ribs and a collapsed lung and has not raced since.
“I’m just happy to be here at the start line of the Tour de France — I think that’s a victory in itself," Vingegaard said. “I did a lot of work, a lot of good work, and I’m not in a bad shape. But it was such a bad crash that everything from here is a bonus."
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The Associated Press
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, center rear, arrives for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)