Vienna (AFP)

Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, second in the general classification of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, said Wednesday that he and his family were infected with the new coronavirus in late winter but have now regained their form .

"It started with two days of headaches. And a fever, around 38 ° C," said the 29-year-old in an interview with the Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung.

He specifies that the virus has not only infected him, but "all (his) family. Wife, father, brother. All".

"But it was not a big problem. We have overcome it perfectly well," added the skier who during this period remained in solitary confinement in the family hotel in Courchevel, in the French Alps.

It is in this posh resort, popular with tourists from all over the world, that he thinks he was infected at the end of March.

The skier also states that he lost taste and smell during his illness, other frequent symptoms of Covid-19. Pinturault says he still has some sequelae in terms of taste, as well as the nervous system "a little sleepy".

But he is delighted that he has had no lung problems: "I am in good health, this is the most important. And I have antibodies against Covid even if nobody knows how long they have been effective".

The skier had his best season this year with six World Cup victories but saw his first coronation narrowly escape when the coronavirus pandemic led to the premature cessation of competition in six races of the term, narrowly failing behind the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

© 2020 AFP