Christophe Laporte speaks out again, and that already means something: "Team doctor warned me it could take a long time"

Laporte had declined interviews with outside media until he started to feel somewhat better. "About ten days ago, I started training again. Very lightly, but I’ve managed a few days on the bike without too many issues," he said.

"I’ve been at home for quite a while now, since I contracted the virus at the end of January, right before I was supposed to go on training camp in Tenerife," Laporte explained. The virus forced him to miss both the Flemish Classics and the Tour de France. "It’s taking a long time to recover and it’s still not fully behind me. I still get headaches and bouts of fatigue now and then."

"It’s already better than it was," the Frenchman explains. "This past week, I managed two rides of three hours each. I’m easing back into it, like someone who hasn’t been able to train for three months. I had weeks where I could only ride for one or two hours. But this past week I hit twelve hours on the bike, something I hadn’t been able to do in recent months," says Laporte, who still had to take a step back again in late April.

The whole situation took a toll on him. "I honestly would’ve preferred to break something, because at least then you know when you’ll be back. When I first got sick, I thought I’d be fine in a month. But the team doctor warned me it could take a long time. For most people, cytomegalovirus is harmless, but in my case, it really affected me. As long as the virus is in your system, relapses can happen."

"I went through a really hard six weeks, where even walking for 20 minutes left me exhausted. That was a difficult period, but the team always supported me without any pressure," Laporte told L'Équipe, expressing gratitude to Visma | Lease a Bike. "Now I hope the worst is behind me, because it’s been two weeks since I’ve had any serious symptoms."

Laporte also hopes to give something back to his team before the season ends. "After being out of action for three months, you need time to rebuild, but I’m not worried about getting back to my old level. I think I’ll be in good shape again by the end of the season, and ready to start strong next year."

"I haven’t had a concrete conversation with the team yet, but riding the Vuelta could be an option, or some of the races I usually do, like the Renewi Tour and the Canadian races," Laporte muses. "We’ll make a plan based on how my training goes. Now that I’m feeling better, I can also reflect on the positive side of this whole situation: the last three years, I’ve barely been home. But now, I’ve had time to enjoy being with my family."