And here comes the dreaded doping debate Again: Danish expert questions Tadej Pogacar’s performances

Cycling
Saturday, 12 July 2025 at 10:20
tadej-pogacar
When you mention the Tour de France, doping is often associated with it because the two are unfortunately forever linked by a dark history in cycling. In recent years, cycling has been claimed to be cleaner than ever, but every year, the Tour's top performers are confronted with questions about banned substances and their performance. This time, a Danish doping expert is among the first to question Tadej Pogacar's performance in an interview with the Danish newspaper BT.
The statements are made by Vest Christiansen, who researches sports and doping at the University of Aarhus. When asked about the many doping questions from cycling fans about the current state of the sport, he replied: “It would be naive to say no when asked whether doping is still part of cycling. If we look at indicators such as watts and how fast the riders climb the various mountains, they are breaking records and riding faster than in the time when doping was widespread.”
Of course, that is not a conclusive argument, as Christiansen is well aware. Cycling has evolved since the challenging 1990s, as the Dane emphasizes: "If we assume that the peloton is clean and that doping is no longer used, we have to trust that the performance improvements that were achieved through doping at the time are now enabled by equipment, nutrition, and training."
Read more below the photo.
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Danish doping expert thinks Pogacar's growth is too remarkable

The problem for Christiansen lies with Pogacar, the world champion and three-time Tour winner, who is a major dominant factor in cycling today. Jonas Vingegaard defeated the Slovenian rider in the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, but since breaking his wrist in 2023, Pogacar has faced no opposition and has made enormous physical progress. Too much progress, according to Christiansen. "It's really bizarre what Pogacar has achieved since 2023."
“It's understandable that top athletes increase their level by 1, 2, or maybe 3 percent. But it seems that he has increased his level by 7, 8, 9, or even 10 percent. That's astonishing, to say the least.” The fact that the big star of cycling is undoubtedly tested daily for banned substances is irrelevant, according to the Dane. “Just because you don't see doping doesn't mean it's not there.”
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