"Given cycling's past the question is not an illegitimate one" - Christian Prudhomme honest about Pogacar doping doubts

There is no doubt about who the best cyclist on the planet is in 2024. Becoming the first rider in a generation to complete the sport's mythical 'Triple Crown', nearly everything Tadej Pogacar has touched has turned to gold this campaign. As is often the case in cycling however, such all-conquering dominance always tends to bring questions related to the sport's murky past.

Infamous doping scandals involving some of the sport's biggest names, such as the likes of Lance Armstrong, Marco Pantani and Alberto Contador among others, whenever a new superstar emerges to take control of the peloton, some voices are always quick to bring up the question of whether they are doing so legally. In recent years, Jonas Vingegaard has had to deal with such doubts as he secured back to back Tour de France titles but in 2024, the cloud of doubt has descended onto the Dane's great rival, Tadej Pogacar.

Pogacar reclaimed the Maillot Jaune this year, winning the Tour de France for the third time in his career in typically scintillating style. In an interview with La Dépêche du Midi, the race director of the French Grand Tour, Christian Prudhomme was asked to tackle the doping question and whether or not he'd be surprised to find out in future that Pogacar had in fact been cheating.

"Given cycling's past, and not so long ago, the question is not an illegitimate one," admits Prudhomme, choosing his words carefully. "I don't have an answer. I can see that he gives a pretty impressive performance in competitions. The controls exist, we fought with ASO to have independents, and now it's the case with ITA. That's it..."

Nevertheless, Prudhomme does see similarities to the legends of the past in Pogacar this year. "We're back to what we were used to, that is to say champions who are there from the beginning to the end of the season and with this will to win everything," the Frenchman concludes. "Which makes him similar to Eddy Merckx but also to Bernard Hinault... For years, I heard Bernard say that the guys had to rediscover their sense of the game and enjoy themselves. That's exactly what Pogacar does."