Chloé Dygert diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus

Despite having started her second season with Canyon//SRAM Racing, Chloé Dygert has only had one race day with the team, some weeks ago at the women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The second day of racing will take time to come, as the American is now suffering from Epstein-Barr virus which will force her to miss the classics.

Gary Sutton, a USA track team coach, has told Cyclingnews that "her track block in Belgium was the best she has been in the last three years which was very promising with her data being the best it's ever been. During our testing on the Eddy Merckx velodrome she was in very good form and continued with a very heavy work load right up to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad."

"However, as it has in the past, things took a turn when Dygert was appearing to be back at her best. When returning to Colorado, Chloe wasn’t feeling 100 per cent in the first few training sessions and we thought it may have been the altitude. The medical team decided to do some testing then found out she had Epstein-Barr virus," he added.

This comes as change of plans as Dygert was focusing on the cobbled classics this spring, but will now have to miss them as she faces a long period outside the bike.

"Currently, she is in a good place handling this very well and I know she was expecting to be readying for Paris-Roubaix. This certainly won’t happen now, as I believe she will be out or off the bike for at least another one or two months - but I’m not the doctor," Sutton concluded.