Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Monday July 21, 2025 at 12:50 p.m.
In the same way as many other runners of the peloton, Tadej Pogacar seems currently impacted by a viral infection which could have prevented it from properly defending its chances this weekend. The Slovenian, a leading yellow jersey on the shoulders, wants to be reassuring and prefers to speak of a simple cold, which should only constitute a bad memory very quickly, to hear it.
This had not escaped the most picky of the observers. On Saturday, if he had nevertheless managed to style his great rival Jonas Vingegaard at the top of Superbagnères to offer himself second place in the 14th stage behind the winner of the day Tymen Arensman (and four more precious seconds in the classification on the Danish), Tadej Pogacar had nevertheless seemed much less impressive than in the previous days. The Slovenian did not really seem really in his best form on Sunday during a 15th stage which ended in Carcassonne on the victory of his Belgian teammate Tim Wellens. And when the best cyclist on the planet no longer crushes the race as he usually does, he inevitably conveys a lot of questions. So, is the yellow jersey and triple winner of the Tour de France sick? The interested party does not deny. However, he assures that it is only a small rum. And that this little rum in question will soon be only a distant memory. Certainly not very pleasant. “Pogi” admits it willingly. The leader of the UAE team but also in the general classification was not unhappy to see the second day of rest arrived on Monday. “I am very happy because I can’t wait to rest,” said the one who is about to break all the records on the big loop, before revealing his symptoms in detail.
So light that it is the sore pugacar sore?
“I have a slight sore throat and my nose blocked for a few days (…) I have a bit of a runny nose, I cough a little, but I’m not really sick. It’s just a little annoying”. Especially since this sore throat which makes Pogacar so in a hurry to be able to live a off -date does not seem as trivial as he could suggest. “Too much air conditioning, too much ice … It really hurts the throat,” said the champion, before reassuring all his fans again. “In fact, it’s better, it is more about its end.” And the Slovenian to recall that he is in any case not the only one to have suffered from this asphyxiating warmth which forced him, like others, to “put so much ice” (“and that is not the best for the throat”). “Half of the peloton coughs”. But half of the peloton is not Pogacar. And when the latter “coughs”, it is all around.
