Niewiadoma leads Canyon-SRAM at Tour de France Femmes, Dygert continues Epstein-Barr recovery

Kasia Niewiadoma will lead the Canyon-SRAM team alongside Pauliena Rooijakkers at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift that kicks off on Sunday in Paris. 

Notably absent from the roster is North American Chloé Dygert who had hoped to compete in the eight-day race but is still recovering from Epstein-Barr virus she contracted this spring.

"Regarding Chloé, due to some setbacks in the recovery process, our team had to decide, together with Chloé, that she is not ready from a fitness or health perspective to race the 8 days of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift," Canyon-SRAM told Cyclingnews.

"She will continue to focus on her recovery and we can’t predict her exact program for the remainder of the season yet."

Dygert experienced multiple surgeries and a lengthy rehabilitation to recover from a leg injury sustained in a horrendous and debilitating crash at Imola Worlds in 2020. She joined Canyon-SRAM at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February, however, upon returning to the US in March she began to feel unwell.

"There was a lack of energy and fatigue. The breaking point was a low threshold workout at which Chloé couldn’t even ride tempo. She had a mononucleosis blood test done in which she was tested positive along with the antibody tests that were well over the normal numbers. The first symptoms were the lack of energy and fatigue, followed by other typical symptoms of a mononucleosis," Canyon-SRAM told Cyclingnews following her early diagnosis.

Dygert had hoped to return to racing in time for her goals at the Tour de France Femmes, however, Canyon-SRAM confirmed that she is not yet ready to begin racing again and that her programme for the remainder of the season is unknown.

"The recovery timeline is individual and can not be