Fernando Gaviria claims to be in fighting shape after contracting COVID-19 twice last year, and given that the UAE Team Emirates Tour de France team will be built around Tadej Pogachar, he will be aiming for a stage win in the 2021 Giro d'Italia This would mean.

Gaviria was one of the first professional riders to contract COVID and spent about two weeks in a UAE hospital in March, although his symptoms were said to be mild.

In the summer, she returned and won stages at the Vuelta a Burgos, Tour du Limousin, and Giro della Toscana, but tested positive for COVID again at the Giro d'Italia.

Gaviria immediately ended his season and spent the winter under the radar, but is currently in the UAE with his teammates for a preseason training camp, claiming to be fully healthy and ready to race.

"I had a medical checkup in November with doctors, including a cardiologist, and they said everything was normal," Gaviria told a press conference at the camp.

"There were signs of a cold or something, but as far as COVID, there were no effects that showed up in the tests.

Gaviria returned to Colombia after his second COVID and returned to training in December. With the help of a new training plan, he was able to get back to a position where he could again aim to win big races.

"I'm feeling pretty good. I feel good in this camp. After the infection I took some time off and then started training, so I'm starting to settle down and get ready for the season, like I do every year. I'm in pretty good shape and I'm happy with the results of my training rides so far.

"When I was a kid, I used to go on rides with my dad and train like he told me to. I wanted to do something a little different and so far it's working.

"I'm glad I don't have to go to Europe right away because of the cold, snow, and all that. I'm happy with how things are going here. I still have a little bit left, but I have something to gain in Europe."

In 2021, Gaviria will return to the Giro d'Italia, but will likely miss his third consecutive Tour de France following his debut in 2018, when he won two stages and wore the yellow jersey.

2020 champion Pogačar has already been announced as the team leader for July, and the lineup will likely consist mainly of young Slovenians. Alexander Kristoff is on the team sheet, but the Norwegian does not need much of a lead-out train, whereas Gaviria, a Norwegian, is rarely without his pilot Max Richeze and would ideally benefit from additional support.

He will get it at the Giro, hoping not only to reclaim the Cyclamen points jersey he won in 2017, but also to add to his record of five stage wins.

"I like Italy and I've always liked racing in Italy, so the Giro would be a good option," he insisted.

"Given my plans for this year's Tour, and what I want to accomplish with Taddeji, this is logical."

It is unclear where Gaviria will start his 2021 campaign (noting that the calendar has changed again due to the pandemic), but he will compete in the UAE Tour in late February before heading back to Milan-San Remo. After that, he will run the cobbled classics he has yet to fulfill his commitments before resting up for the start of the Giro on May 8.

"There are many important races before I reach the Giro," he said. The home race, the Tour of the UAE, is really important for us." Then there's Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, and the Classics of the North. I don't know which races I'll be in, but I'll be in some of them. "

As for after the Giro, it appears that the Tour will only be open if Pogachar or Christophe have unexpected problems. The Vuelta a España is a possibility later in the campaign, before the World Championships, which are suitable for the classics specialists in the Flanders region of Belgium. Gaviria, however, refused to look beyond the Giro.

In any case, he is eager to bounce back from a trying 2020 and regain the kind of performance that got him knocking on the door of the world's best sprinters.

"2020 was not a lost year in terms of health issues, but it wasn't a good year in terms of results. The results needed to be better."