Pogacar brushes off COVID-19 infection 10 days before Tour: "Never felt better"

Who else but Tadej Pogacar could possibly be the top favorite to win the general classification in the Tour de France? The Giro d'Italia winner himself acknowledges that he has an excellent chance, as was made clear in a statement on the UAE Team Emirates' website. However, at the press conference on Thursday, he casually mentioned that he contracted COVID-19 just ten days before the Tour...

"Winning the Giro was an incredible experience, one that I will always cherish," said the 25-year-old Slovenian, who is chasing a third overall victory in La Grande Boucle. He was the champion in 2020 and 2021, but in 2022 and 2023, he had to acknowledge the superiority of Jonas Vingegaard, who is also participating this year. "After the Giro, I took time off to relax," Pogi explained regarding his Tour preparation. As he stated at the press conference: "After the Giro, I had a great period. First some relaxation and then preparing for the Tour. I enjoyed it a lot. First with Urska, then straight back to training hard."

"It's very important to switch off from time to time," he added. "Mental recovery is crucial, just like physical recovery. It's important to take your rest now and then. I enjoy hanging out with friends at home, eating ice cream, or going to a restaurant. I also watched many good series."

It all sounds like a fairy tale, but Pogacar faced some serious setbacks between the Giro and the Tour. His grandfather passed away, leading the Slovenian to interrupt his altitude training camp to be with his family. "That was important for me," he says, rightly so. But that wasn't the end of it. "After that, I returned and caught COVID-19 ten days ago. I didn't have severe symptoms. It wasn't serious. It all went smoothly. Your body is somewhat used to a virus like that. I didn't ride for a week and then got back on the rollers."

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Pogacar won the Giro d'Italia in May

Pogacar has never felt better

That's news to our ears, compared to what Pogacar shared on Wednesday via his team. The press release was nothing but positive: "I was back in Monaco, where I live, quite soon after the Giro. I was actually quite eager to get back on the bike when I got home. I started to feel good quite quickly and did some good training soon after the Giro. I’m really looking forward to the start of the Tour, I think it’s going to be a special start for me because I won the Giro, and the Tour starts in Italy! It looks like I’ve made a step forward since the Giro, and my shape is even better than what I expected. I’ve done some good training, and I’ve tested my legs a little bit and to be honest, I have never felt so good on the bike.”

That's the story. And at the press conference, Pogacar shrugged off persistent questions from journalists about COVID-19. How long had he been infected? How sick did he get? Pogacar prefers to focus on the present. With the Giro win in his pocket, the best legs ever, and what he calls "perhaps the strongest team ever in the Tour", his beloved UAE Team Emirates. "Our team is super strong. I'm honored to have them as teammates. We can be very confident," he said, referring to the presence of Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and João Almeida, among others.

If you look at him now, you wouldn't think he spent three weeks in May racing hard to win the Giro d'Italia. And it doesn't feel like that to him either. "It's very difficult to win a grand tour. The Giro was already tough, and I had to give everything and be in good form. In my mind, it's a challenge to now go to the Tour, but I'm not shying away from that challenge. Nothing is easy in cycling, and I've hit the reset button. The Tour now feels like my first grand tour," he smiles.

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Pogacar knows what Vingegaard is going through, but also doesn't

His biggest challenger might be himself. "Crossing the finish line first and making no mistakes," he says. And keeping an eye on competitors like Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. Vingegaard is the biggest question mark among them. He crashed hard in the Tour of the Basque Country and will start the Tour without any race kilometers in his legs. "Jonas and I only meet once a year. I respect the rivalry and am glad he's here. I assume he's ready. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here. Hopefully, we can put on a good show, but I hope to take the yellow jersey this time," Pogacar jokes again.

Yet it is a serious matter. Pogacar knows all about it. Riding the Tour without proper preparation, he did that last year after breaking his wrist in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "After the accident in Liège, nothing really went well. I saw who was there to help me and who wasn't. There was negative energy around me. During the preparation, I didn't have one hundred percent confidence. Maybe I mentally collapsed in the time trial, but there were so many things that went wrong, in my head and around me, in my environment. It was a really tough time. When the pressure accumulates and gets too high, at some point it explodes. But I managed to recover from it and finish the season well. And now I want to go for it. Those two second places are like fuel to the fire this year," he told L'Equipe.

Pogacar approaches Vingegaard's situation with respect. "You never know if you're ready for three weeks of racing. If the Tour had lasted one or two weeks last year, I might have been better than ever. The third week was too much. It's important to monitor yourself and keep an eye on the numbers. Whether it will be enough, you never know. It's already great that everyone is here, from Jonas to Mathieu van der Poel. Wout and Mathieu, the first stage could be nice for them. I'm curious about everyone in the first two stages. The first week is quite tough, the first stage already, even. That stage won't be hard enough to make differences, but in the second stage, I do expect to see who is good. On day four, we have a real mountain stage, then we'll see some differences."

Finally, the well-known matter of hot weather. According to Pogacar, competitors shouldn't use the argument that he's weaker in the heat anymore. He's over it. "In the Tour, it's always hot, right in the middle of summer. Every year I ride it, I handle it better. If it's super cold now, I don't like it as much anymore. That was different a few years ago. I've grown into warm weather. I'm ready for a hot summer."