Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has suffered an early-season setback, contracting COVID-19 last week.
The Tour de France champion is said to have suffered mild symptoms and has already completed his mandatory period of self-isolation. He is training again but still has to undergo further medical tests before he’s cleared to ramp up his preparations for his season debut at the UAE Tour, which is a big target for the team on home soil. The UAE Tour starts on February 20.
News of Pogačar’s infection was not revealed by UAE Team Emirates until Tuesday, following his recovery and return to training.
Pogačar went training with fellow Monaco resident and friend Michael Matthews on Monday, with the Australian posting a video on Instagram.
He one of the first riders to be vaccinated in early 2021 along with his UAE Team Emirates team and reportedly had a second vaccine last summer and according to his coach Inigo San Millán, he ready to comply with the new UCI 'Health Pass' which does away with the need for pre-race tests for most of the 2022 calendar.
“Tadej tested positive for the virus and had mild symptoms. As per guidelines, and in the interest of his health, and the greater community, he underwent the mandatory isolation and recovery period, before resuming light training,” said medical director Dr. Adrian Rotunno.
“He is still due to undergo some final medical clearance testing, but should be on track to resume his preparation for his first race of the season, the UAE Tour.”
Under the UCI's COVID-19 medical protocol, riders who test positive for the virus have to undergo a series of heart and lung tests before they are allowed to race.
Pogačar, winner of the past two editions of the Tour de France, has built since season around a crack at a third yellow jersey, while also adding the Tour of Flanders into his spring mix and a second Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España later in the season.
He completed a training camp with his teammates in south east Spain at the start of January, and has since been based at his home in Monaco. He was due to fly out to the UAE next week to lead his team at the UAE Tour, which he won last year.
Provided that is still on track, he would then go to Italy to race Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo either side of Tirreno-Adriatico, before heading to Flanders via Dwars door Vlaanderen.
La Flèche Wallonne and a title defence at Liège-Bastogne-Liège are also on his spring agenda before attentions turn to the Tour de France build-up, with multiple altitude camps and a racing appearance in June - possibly on home soil at the Tour of Slovenia.
The pandemic has already disrupted the start of the season, with the Tour Down Under and Vuelta a San Juan scrapped, and a spate of positive cases at early-season European races. BikeExchange-Jayco, Jumbo-Visma, and Team DSM all had to leave last week’s Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana after outbreaks in their squads.
