American rider testifies about wild west practices in Portugal: 'There is doping in the peloton'

Is there still doping in the pro cycling peloton? In an in-depth YouTube video , American cyclist Keegan Swirbul shared his perspective on the prevalence of doping in 2026. In a video titled “There Is Doping in Professional Cycling,” the 31-year-old rider provides a 24-minute explanation. “It’s the question I get asked most often: Is doping still being used?”

Swirbul came up through Axeon’s development program and went on to race for many years on the continental circuit in Europe and the U.S. In 2022, he rode one season for Human Powered Health before joining Epafel. Representing that Portuguese team, he will retire from road cycling at the end of this season, as he previously announced. Swirbul will now focus on gravel racing.

"For four years, I raced at the epicenter of doping—which, unfortunately, is Portugal," he begins his story. “I’ve got quite a few stories—things I’ve seen with my own eyes. In literally every team I’ve ridden for throughout my entire career, it’s always been the main topic of conversation at the dinner table after the race. ‘Oh, that rider—my God, he flew up that mountain! Did you see so-and-so attack so hard? He’s got to be on something.’"

"I switch from one team to another, and then they say, 'Yeah, those guys from the team I rode for last year—they're really shady.' And then I think, ‘But I rode for that team myself last year!’” says Swirbul. He’s not just referring to his own teams. “It’s the same with INEOS, Visma UAE, and all the other big teams: what does Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) say when he’s riding better than ever and then gets blown away by Tadej (Pogacar, ed.)?”

"Last year, during the Tour of Luxembourg, I was riding in the lead group with a rider who was with Soudal Quick-Step at the time, but whose name I don't even know," said Swirbul. “We had finished the stage and were discussing a few things. UAE smashed that stage—they had six riders in the top 25. He shook his head and said, ‘Those UAE guys—what are they doing?’ So it’s even a topic of conversation in the WorldTour.”

"I’ve been racing in Portugal for the past four years, and for those who don’t know: it’s known as the ‘Wild West’ when it comes to doping," Swirbul continues. "When I’m trying to figure out if a rider is doping, I look for two things... The first is extremely rapid weight loss. Take a guy like António Carvalho, for example—a truly legendary doper.”

"He always gained too much weight in the spring and got dropped on every climb. But as soon as the Volta a Portugal came around—the most important race for those guys—he literally looked like a corpse," said Swirbul. “What was he using? Corticosteroids. You can use them legally with a TUE (therapeutic use exemption)... It makes you lose weight incredibly fast, while retaining all your muscle mass, giving you a ton of energy, and allowing you to recover lightning-fast without losing strength. It just sucks all the fat right off you.”

"The second thing I always look for to see if someone is doping is consistency in performance. If a rider has extreme peaks and troughs throughout the season, that’s a very bad sign,” he continues. “In April, a guy like that is putting out 5.8 watts per kilogram while my FTP is around 6.0. But then we get to the Tour of Portugal, and suddenly that rider is hitting a threshold of 6.4 watts per kilogram or more. That’s an incredibly big difference over the course of just a few months.”

In Portugal, people aren’t looked down on nearly as much as in the rest of Europe. “One thing that really made me furious: a guy who was suspended for four years because of EPO and blood bags in his fridge just finished fourth in this year’s Volta a Portugal,” he says, referring to José Neves. “It really bothers me and other riders that a guy like that comes back and that a Portuguese team just takes him back.”

"Why? You're shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to your own young talent, who are already so damaged by these issues. Young Portuguese riders aren't being hired by other teams simply because they're Portuguese," he explains.

The American concludes by drawing a parallel with today’s top riders. “Is Pogacar doping? I don’t think Pogacar is doping the way we all imagine—that classic Lance Armstrong-style doping with blood bags, syringes, and that sort of thing. I don’t think so. He’s just too consistent for that; he gets tested incredibly often, and his performance level stays the same all year round.'

"Is it possible that Pogačar and other riders are doing something that simply isn't even on our radar yet? Very possible. People are talking about gene doping (...) or mitochondrial doping. There are surely substances we won't hear about until the coming years, but which aren't banned yet."

"And if they do that: kudos to them, because they’re ahead of medical science and have the resources, knowledge, and science to do it before it even appears on the radar of anti-doping agencies. Is that really doping? No, not technically," Swirbul concluded. “My gut feeling does tell me, though, that it’s actually much less of an issue in the WorldTour than we all believe.”