"Mechanical doping? Yes, mechanical!" - Jérôme Pineau makes sensational Jumbo-Visma accusation

Jumbo-Visma has been a level above the rest over the first two weeks of racing at the Vuelta a Espana. In a sensational accusation however, ex-pro Jérôme Pineau has questioned the legality of their dominance.

“The international bodies are destroying cycling. They let too many things happen, don't control anything anymore and do what the big teams want. That's the danger. Then you can start thinking whatever you want," begins Pineau on the podcast Les grandes gueules du sport by RMC Sport. “We see the images… I'm not talking about doping, but about something much worse."

Despite the vast number of doping tests done on riders nowadays, it would perhaps be naive to assume done would slip through the net. Pineau believes it's not the riders themselves that are doping, it's the bikes.

"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," says Pineau. “How can you explain that?”

“Cycling is my sport, I lived from it and still live from it. It's my passion, but I'm scared. It worries me very much. I see certain things happening... On the Col de Spandelles, Kuss goes ten seconds ahead without pedaling. I don't know how that's possible," concludes Pineau. “There was never any evidence with Lance Armstrong , but we riders in the peloton knew about his deception. Now exactly the same thing is happening."