Taddei Pogachar, recently diagnosed with COVID-19, is out of the Tour de France, it was announced at a pre-race press conference in Florence on Thursday.

Pogachar has not raced since winning the Giro d'Italia at the end of May, while his Tour de France contenders Jonas Vingegaard, Remko Evenpole, and Primosz Roglic have also been forced to return from a group crash in April at Ituria Basque.

He also recovered from a setback to race, but says his battle with the virus was not serious.

"It's not so serious anymore. Especially since I've had the virus before and I've had it once or twice," Pogachar said, revealing that he contracted COVID-19 about 10 days ago. 'It was like a cold. It went away very quickly.

"I rested for a day, then I put some rollers inside. After that, I wasn't sick anymore, so I ran outside.

Pogachar's setback is small compared to the many injuries suffered by his great rival and two-time winner Vingegaard, who has not raced since the crash.

Pogachar, who broke his wrist in Liège-Bastogne-Liège last spring, said he "doesn't know" if he will be able to return from his injury and compete in the Grand Tour.

He said, however, that if Vingegaard is not ready to fight him again for the yellow jersey, he will not take part in this weekend's Grande Paire.

"It will be nice to see him at the start, Pogachar said. I look forward to putting on another great show," Pogachar said. [I think the relationship between me and Jonas is extraordinary. It's crazy that we are writing this history ourselves as rivals. I have so much respect for him and I appreciate this rivalry."

Pogachar, who has no major injuries, just finished three weeks of racing after winning the Giro d'Italia a month ago.

The Giro/Tour double has not been accomplished since Marco Pantani in 1998, but Pogachar, who was dominant in Italy, appears to have the strongest chance in the past 36 years, as his main rivals have not done so well in the run-up to the Tour. He appears to have the strongest chance in 36 years, while his main rivals have had less than stellar pre-Tour results.

UAE Team Emirates heads into the Tour de France with one of the strongest GC teams of the season, with Juan Ayuso, Adam Yates, and Joao Almeida on the support team. Pogachar called his team "one of the strongest teams ever."

"I think our team is super strong. We are one of the strongest teams in the history of the Tour. We have superstars on the climbs, so it's a real honor to have them as teammates."

"They are also really strong on the flats and the technical parts. I have a lot of confidence in this team. I'm really happy and honored to have them as my teammates."

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