“It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold”: Tadej Pogačar claims Covid isn’t “as serious anymore” after testing positive 10 days ago; Vingegaard says “I’m just happy to be here” after recovering from injuries; Pidcock’s aero haircut; + more on the live blog

Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Remco Evenepoel — now, add Covid-19 to that list of foes.

Coming into the pre-race press conference yesterday evening, we assumed that we would be made privy to some additional information but was anyone expecting to hear that Pogačar, primed by most to wear the maillot jaune in Nice on 21 July, had just recovered from Covid less than two weeks ago?

“My grandfather passed away and I went to Slovenia to make a closure and see the family,” he said. “It was a bit of travelling but it was really important for me. Then I went back to the training camp [in the French Alps] but got sick and had Covid. That was a bit of a question mark… but I recovered really good from that.”

He then revealed that he tested positive for Coronavirus “around ten days ago”, but it had no impact on his training and form.

He added: “It wasn't too bad, just like a cold. It passed really fast. Especially if your body already had the virus before and I had it once or twice. I stopped for one day and then did some rollers inside. Then when I wasn’t sick anymore, I was riding outside.”

He said https://t.co/7woujQ8yLl pic.twitter.com/MuBvSKmS1W

— #SiempreGino (@NairoInGreen) June 27, 2024

Umm, maybe tell that to Visma-Lease a Bike’s Sepp Kuss and Lidl-Trek’s Tao Geoghegan Hart, with both of them catching the bug and being ruled out of the Tour de France just days before the Grand Départ tomorrow in Florence.

The 25-year-old Slovenian, fresh from winning the Giro d’Italia and aiming to become the first man to do a Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani’s triumph in 1998, would be hoping that his words don’t come back to bite him and that he’s able to stay in top shape against his primary rivals, all three of whom have had to recover from injuries sustained at the horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country.

While Primož Roglič was fortunate enough to come out of that high-speed crash on one of the descents of the Spanish stage-race without any fractures, 2022 Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenepoel suffered a broken collarbone and a fracture to his right scapula, while two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs, as well as a collapsed lung.

Since then, Evenepoel has managed to recover and race at the Critérium du Dauphiné, finishing seventh in the general classification, however Vingegaard’s race against time to recover fully has been a tad more difficult, with the Dane’s inclusion in the Visma squad until the last minute.

> “He has to be the old Jonas again”: Visma-Lease a Bike DS says Vingegaard will decide for himself whether or not he’ll go to Tour de France

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard before stage 15, 2023 Tour de France (A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

However, Pogačar said that he’s happy to see Vingegaard back and excited to race against him for the top prize. He said: “It’s good to see him at the start. I think he’s ready because otherwise, I don’t think he’d be at the start. It’s something I’m looking forward to, making a great show again.

“I think the relationship between me and Jonas is extraordinary and that we always meet each other in July. It's crazy that we ride ourselves into history as rivals. I respect him a lot.”

Just two days ago, Pogačar — after having a phenomenal season in 2024, winning the Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Volta a Catalunya, and Giro d'Italia in a dominating fashion — issued an ominous sign for the rest of the peloton, claiming that he has never felt so good on the bike and that his “shape is even better than what he expected”.

He said: “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. I’m really looking forward to seeing if I have improved in the race situations from the Giro, but I feel good so I cannot complain!”

>  Was Tadej Pogačar’s Giro d’Italia victory boring? And does it matter?

🎊 Happy Friday… and a very happy Friday it is. The first stage of the Romford Road cycle track (eastbound from Water Lane to the Atherton Leisure Centre) is finally open! 🚲

Congrats to @NewhamLondon… now please let's crack on with the rest of #RomfordRoad 👷 pic.twitter.com/oZ7Girpw59

— Newham Cyclists (@NewhamCyclists) June 28, 2024

I'm sure regular readers of this live blog would be quite well-versed with my disdain towards more blue jerseys in the peloton, with Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe the two latest teams to ditch their respective yellow and green colours and going for blue at this Tour de France (in the latter's case, it's less of a temporary change, which is probably even worse in my opinion).

But when for a change, a team does release a blue kit, and it's probably one of the best kits in the last decade or so, they decide to not wear it in the actual race at all... What a shame!

Arkéa-B&B, after receiving UCI WorldTour status two years ago, decided to celebrate the Grand Départ in Italy with an ode to the team's bike manufacturing company Bianchi — releasing a kit so good I couldn't believe my eyes.

𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒆́𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 ! 🇮🇹

Nos coureurs porteront ce soir un maillot collector pour rendre hommage à notre partenaire majeur @BianchiOfficial. 🩵

📽 Lucas Pavy#TDF2024 #RideBianchi #RepartoCorse pic.twitter.com/ZbLPkT6a05

— ARKEA-B&B HOTELS (@arkeabbhotels) June 27, 2024

A full, proper throwback kit, although I agree that the big B&B circle in the middle does taint it ever so slightly, but the aura of the pastel, Bianchi baby blue is too strong to be hampered by a sponsor placement.

Unfortunately, the kit was only there for the team presentation, before the riders revert back to the team's red and black come tomorrow...

Wait, apparently this was just for the team presentation and Arkea will be back in red for the race. Is this true?! What a travesty… https://t.co/0suWe9PAyu

— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) June 28, 2024

Heal swiftly, my broken heart...

Arkéa breaking hearts twice, once by revealing the best jersey of the last decade, and again when they confirmed they wouldn't even be wearing it 😭💔 pic.twitter.com/rDz57GOMeA

— Katy M, Le Tour Edition (@writebikerepeat) June 28, 2024

UCI president David Lappartient has revealed that world cycling’s governing body is planning to pay whistleblowers and informants who come forward with “credible” information related to the suspected use of hidden motors in the peloton, days after the UCI announced that it will pilot the use of a new unspecified “inspection tool” designed to uncover mechanical fraud at the Tour de France.

Lappartient said that financial incentives for motor doping whistleblowers would prove the UCI is taking the issue – which he claims has the potential to “destroy cycling” – seriously.

He also raised concerns about the methods currently in place to detect the presence of hidden motors within bikes, such as handheld tablets, and the increasingly frequent use of tactical bike swaps during races, while insisting that the UCI is “not afraid” to catch even the sport’s biggest names if they’re found to be using a motor.

Read more: > “It will destroy our sport”: UCI set to pay whistleblowers for “credible” motor doping information ahead of Tour de France

Can't have hair tufts popping out of your helmet and screwing up the aerodynamics, I guess every bit counts, eh?

Buzzing to be at @LeTour!

Here’s @tompidcock’s entry for the most aero haircut of #TDF2024 ✂️💈

📸 @alexduffill pic.twitter.com/2FTkWMJt8v

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 27, 2024

This was pre-buzz Pidcock, if anyone had forgotten already, throwing down the gauntlet to Geraint and Sara Elen Thomas. We're waiting on G's post-haircut pictures to decide who got the better cut. Although, it doesn't look too hard to beat Pidcock right now...

I’m ready son 👍✂️ #TDF2024 https://t.co/muLcMCZYGF pic.twitter.com/42dhF5md4W

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) June 26, 2024

Adam Hansen, the president of CPA, the pro peloton riders' association, has shared a picture of the Palazzo Vecchio (not my proudest moment, but I've read enough Dan Brown's pulp fiction to know this in my sleep), Florence's town hall where the pre-race briefing was held‚ and would you look at that! Italy never fails to disappoint.

Rider’s briefing at the @LeTour #TDF2024 what an incredible location.... Italy. pic.twitter.com/1GS8c0NPcZ

— Adam Hansen (@HansenAdam) June 27, 2024