"Does he have the right to talk about others?" - Merijn Zeeman fires back after Jerome Pineau's inflammatory accusation

One of the biggest talking points during the second rest day of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana was the sensational accusation of mechanical doping at Jumbo-Visma from Jerome Pineau. Prior to stage 16, Merijn Zeeman had a retort to the allegations.

“We are receiving comments from a 'team manager' who signed several riders and staff members who ended up on the streets again in October because he fooled everyone," Zeeman hits back, referencing the shambles that was the collapse of the B&B Hotels team run by Pineau, after they had attempted to sign riders such as Mark Cavendish over the off-season. "Does he have the right to talk about others?"

Pineau's sensational allegations have been the talk of the cycling world ever since he first made them, although many do not seem to agree with his thoughts on the matter.

“We see the images… I'm not talking about doping, but about something much worse," Pineau told the podcast Les grandes gueules du sport by RMC Sport. "Mechanical doping? Yes, mechanical. If you look at Sepp Kuss ' attack on the Col du Tourmalet, against riders like Juan Ayuso , Cian Uijtdebroeks – who is seen as a great talent – ​​and Marc Soler . They're not losers on bicycles, are they? Kuss drives ten kilometres per hour faster during his attack, then has to brake by a spectator and then drives ten kilometres per hour faster again."