"Pogacar, Evenepoel & Vingegaard deliver crazy results, but I could not imagine there is any organized doping" - Cycling haunted by 'skeletons of the past' says Michael Morkov
Cycling
As the performance levels in the peloton get better than ever, questions continue to be asked by some about where these improvements are coming from. Given the murky and clouded past of the sport, it's not a completely unwarranted question, but according to the recently retired Michael Morkov, there is no such doping operations in the peloton today.
Morkov retired after nearly two decades at the highest level in the sport at the end of the 2024 season, and has since been announced as the new National Coach of Denmark. Speaking to Brian Holm and Bastian Emil on the podcast Café Eddy though, Morkov insists that despite the lingering doubt from some, the peloton of today is much changed compared to the one he entered in the early years of his career.
"It's true that Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard deliver some crazy results, but I've been with them out there, and they're also lighter and stronger than I am. I don't think I'm experiencing anything unnatural," the 39-year-old Dane explains of the situation from his point of view, having been present at the Tour de France in 2024, riding in support of Mark Cavendish. "But it's clear that with the wild performances, you can think of the skeletons of the past in the closets."
Having first made the jump to World Tour level back in 2009 at Saxo-Bank, Morkov saw the dark side of doping in the peloton during his younger years. As his career developed though, the sport of cycling has presented an increasingly cleaner image and the former leadout expert is keen to insist that organised mass doping is indeed a thing of the past.
"I think we have moved on," Morkov concludes firmly. "I could not imagine in my wildest imagination that there is any organized doping in the upper echelons of professional cycling."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments