Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar has revealed that he's been dealing with illness at the race, though he insisted it's "nothing" and that he's coming to the end of a minor cold.
The Slovenian has won four stages of 15 so far and currently leads the race by 4:13 from Jonas Vingegaard. He hasn't shown any visible signs of weakness so far, and, indeed, he made another six seconds on his rival in the final metres of Saturday's multi-mountain stage to Superbagnères.
Speaking in Sunday's post-stage press conference, Pogačar admitted he has bene ill with a cold but insisted it's nothing to worry about as he and the rest of the peloton gear up for stage 16 up Mont Ventoux on Tuesday.
"I'm becoming less sick now, so thanks for taking care of me," Pogačar joked. "Half of the bunch has sore throats and coughing, blowing their noses. I think I'm more at the end of it.
He suggested that all the ice used to cool riders during the numerous hot days of racing on the Tour could have had a hand in the illness going around the peloton.
Pogačar's extra duties after each stage for the podium ceremonies and press conferences has also taken a toll.
"We eat so much ice and put ice everywhere, and I don't think it's good for the throat," Pogačar said.
"And all the AC, all the extra work on the podium and after, it resulted in a bit of a runny nose and a bit of coughing."
But with the illness clearing up and clearly having had little effect on his abilities in recent days, Pogačar said it was "nothing" and won't affect him going forward.
"It's nothing, I'm not really sick, it's just a pain in the ass," he concluded.
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