Doping "didn't ruin, but it often frustrated me" - Thibau Pinot vocal about use of prohibited substances in the peloton

Throughout his career Thibau Pinot has been one of the riders most vocal about the topic of doping. A member of the MPCC, the Frenchman is one of the faces for clean cycling and has once again shared his feelings towards what he feels is a peloton 'at two speeds'.

"I didn't understand why I was so strong. I thought I had been doped, that I had been drinking from the wrong bottle," Pinot shared with L'Équipe the memory of the 2012 Tour de France, where in the summit finish to La Toussuire he presented himself as a world-class climber even amongst the very best at the Tour. "I was the only one to follow Froome when he attacked...

"I didn't sleep that night because I told myself that it wasn't normal for me to be so strong at my age. It was starting to scare me. I had beaten the record up La Toussuire, which belonged to Contador."

The Frenchman went on to race into a 10th place on that edition but would go on to finish on the podium two years later. Over the years he attempted several times to aim at the yellow and pink jerseys, but after two heartbreaks, the 2019 Tour de France saw the end of his pursuit of the maillot jaune at the Tour, as he was forced to abandon with an injury on the penultimate mountain stage whilst sitting in fifth place.

As for the topic of doping, he doesn't hold back: "It didn't ruin, but it often frustrated me. Or put doubts in my mind. For the rest, I’ll never know. I always told myself that a doped guy might not train as hard as I did, and that I could compensate by going deeper in pain. That's how I reassured myself," he explained.

"After that, how many times did I finish second or third, knowing full well, or having strong suspicions, that in fact the victory was mine," the Frenchman concluded.