Pogacar is 5 minutes in front, there come the doping allegations...
The toll of history
Cycling has a very bad name when it comes to doping. History has taught us that loads of cyclists and some very big names have been doped. Names like Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Ricardo Ricco, Richard Virenque, Michael Rasmussen, ... I could have named hundreds more. They all got caught with doping, either EPO, blood doping, growth hormone, or something else.
This has led to an enormous control mechanism that has been installed by UCI, every rider gets tested, sometimes daily. Especially the winners. Very little doping cases are a fact these days, but there is also another big evolution. The pace of the race is higher than ever. The wattage the riders push is bigger than ever, ... So should we be thinking of a new form of doping? Or is it because the training methods are better than before, the diet of the riders is better and the screening of the riders is better?
Image AFP
I have no clue, I wouldn't put my hands in the fire for any of the riders, but I do believe that the peleton is cleaner than it used to be. I am also sure that the professionalism has created better riders that years ago.
So is Pogacar clean? I don't know. But it is a fact that he did not come out of nowhere, he was already a prodigy a few years ago, with a third place in the Vuelta in 2019, the win in the Tour last year, and this year is one big demonstration of his capabilities.
Time will tell, that's for sure!
Sincerely,
Pele23
Well, you cannot really say if he is secretly doping or not
However, times has changed in a way that riders are exposed to better diets and exercises, which streamlines their abilities
Pogacar may or may not be doping, but as you said, time will tell
Watch the documentary called "Icarus"... it details how insiders are saying that basically everyone on the tours are doping. Like everyone
That is inevitable. With this sports history, every time a rider will show some sort of superiority (and Pogacar kind of does right now), suspicions will start, particularly from the media since that sells.
I agree with you, everything is better than what it used to be: training, diets, ... even doping if it still exists (just like everybody, I just don't know). I feel that at least now it would be under the close supervision of doctors and scientists, and not through shady characters like in the old times. Hopefully that makes it safer for the riders?
And in any case, they are just incredible athletes, and in my opinion, doping or not, the best of them still wins