"I didn't know what was wrong with my body" - Tobias Lund Andresen might end 2026 season after being diagnosed with mononucleosis
Cycling
Decathlon CMA CGM Team are having a tremendous 2026 season, but not everything has gone according to plan. After Olav Kooij was sidelined from competition for several months due to an unknown and persistent virus, the team's other head sprinter Tobias Lund Andresen has now been sidelined after having been diagnosed with mononucleosis.
“I haven't trained in a long time,” Andresen revealed in the Cafe Eddy podcast. “I've had some physical problems since I got sick at the Giro, and it was mononucleosis, which I continued to race with".
The Dane started the Giro d'Italia as a leader for Decathlon, having surprised at the start of the season and earning himself a leadout the Italian Grand Tour - where Felix Gall was also appointed as team leader.
But the race did not go to plan. Throughout the three weeks Lund experienced a losing battle, having gotten ill. He was second in the opening sprint stage to Burgas, still in Bulgaria, but after the peloton flied to Italy the best he could manage was a seventh place in the finales to Milan and Rome.
The 23-year old did not know at the time, but he was already infected. Unaware, he continued to train and compete, even coming close to winning close to home as he was second at the Copenhagen Sprint only behind Jasper Philipsen.
He was set to start the Danish national championships two weeks later in Herning, but did not take part in it. He was since diagnosed with the virus. "I only found out about it three and a half weeks ago. It was about seven or eight weeks where I didn't know what was wrong with my body".
"It's difficult to deal with mentally when you don't know what's wrong. You can think of all the possible causes of the discomfort, so I was relieved when I found out it was infectious mononucleosis.”
Tobias Lund Andresen during stage 3 of the 2026 Tirreno-Adriatico
Andresen's breakthrough season might have ended in June
Andresen's doubts may have ended, but a return to racing is far from certain now. At the time being there are no races for the 23-year old, former rider from Team Picnic PostNL who hasn't raced in over two months. With the recovery times from mononucleosis varying, it might take weeks or months until Lund is back to competition, whilst he confirmed that he hadn't been putting in quality training for quite a while.
Although there are still two months of season left, it will not be easy to make a comeback in time - although the team can now depend on Olav Kooij, currently at the Renewi Tour, to perform in the bunch sprints.
Andresen performed at his very best level right after the start of the season, winning a stage at the Tour Down under where his consistency earned him the points classification. A week later, he would go on to win the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - the biggest win of his career.
Having travelled back to Europe, Lund continued to display great form, finishing in the Top10 of both Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne, before beating Arnaud de Lie and Jasper Philipsen in an uphill sprint at Tirreno-Adriatico.
More than just a sprinter, he also rode to sixth at the E3 Saxo Classic and second at Dwars door Vlaanderen before the end of his successful spring campaign.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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