Tour de France 2024: Tadej Pogacar “ready” after recovering from Covid-19 – “Rebounded very quickly”

Tadej Pogacar revealed he contracted Covid-19 while preparing for the 2024 Tour de France, but insists he ‘bounced back very quickly’ and is ‘ready’ to bid for the jersey YELLOW.

The UAE Team Emirates leader is among the favorites in a fascinating battle for the general classification when the Tour begins in Florence, Italy, on Saturday.

But he said in an interview with Eurosport on Thursday that his preparation had taken an unexpected turn.

“It’s been great, more or less. I was a little bit sick, I had Covid,” Pogacar said. “But I bounced back really quickly and the preparation went really well, so I’m ready.”

“I’m really looking forward to stages 1 and 2 and I hope the rest goes well and as planned.”

Pogacar is not the only yellow jersey contender to have suffered a disrupted preparation ahead of this year’s Tour.

Double reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) were all involved in a serious accident in the Basque Country Itzulia in April and had to recover from their injuries.

Since then, Pogacar has taken a dominant Giro victory, and he was happy to start the Tour on familiar ground ahead of Saturday’s Grand Depart in Florence.

“(The Giro victory) is quite refreshing and to be back in Italy in such a short time, I’m really happy,” Pogacar added.

“It’s not as bad anymore. Especially if your body had the virus before and I had it once or twice,” Pogacar said.

“It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold. It went away really quickly. I stopped one day and did a few rolls inside. Then, when I wasn’t sick anymore, I would roll outside.”

Stage 1 is a hilly 206km ride from Florence to Rimini on Saturday 29th June.