Tour-Dominator Pogacac Found Guilty of Doping
Tadej Pogacar is the overwhelming winner of the 111th Tour de France. His dominance raises doubts about the clean win. But the Slovenian gives a clear statement against doping. He calls dopers "stupid."
Tadej Pogacar understands the reasons for doubts about his performance and labels doping itself as stupidity. The three-time winner of the Tour de France leads the discussions about the use of banned substances back to the past of cycling.
"There will always be doubts, because cycling was heavily damaged in the past," said the Slovenian. "When someone wins, there will always be haters, always envy. If there's no hate, one isn't successful. I think cycling is one of the cleanest sports in the world." The World Anti-Doping Agency and the UCI have invested a lot into the fight against doping. In the past, "before my time," there was "so much misuse," according to Pogacar, but that's over.
For Pogacar, doping is not worth the risk to one's health. "It's not worth it to take something that risks your health," said the 26-year-old. "It's just stupid. You might ride until you're 35. But there's still a long way after that. That shouldn't be thrown away. It's fun to win, but it's not everything."
There has never been a suspicion against Pogacar
During the Tour de France that ended on Sunday, Pogacar set several records on climbs that date back to the era of doping in cycling between 1990 and 2006. Critical voices were raised that this could not have been achieved with better equipment, better nutrition, and better training.
Although there are some team staff - in particular team manager Mauro Gianetti - with doping pasts in Pogacar's UAE team, there has never been a suspicion against the Slovenian. Nothing is known about missed tests. With his win at the Tour on Sunday and his overall victory at the Giro d'Italia in May, he was the first rider since the doped Italian Marco Pantani in 1998 to achieve the double in his career.
Tadej Pogacar's impressive performances during the Tour de France, including setting records on historically doped climbs, have sparked doubts about the use of performance-enhancing substances in the past. Despite this, Pogacar, a staunch opponent of doping, emphasizes that cycling is one of the cleanest sports today, having learned from its past mistakes.
