"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."
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- OCexile, you sound almost contradictory, "greatness that she is capable of" as if it's a question, when you also list all her accomplishments in just 4 years - that already seems kinda great to me! The question seems to be if she can keep this up, especially with a new team. She's a great rider to watch, that's for sure.RidesHills10-01-2025
- What, you did a survey? Of what the whole peleton?Jumpyjohn10-01-2025
- Just because Remco said that he will fully focus on the Tour it doesn't mean that he'll actually be competitive for the winvappaxbipmv10-01-2025
- Well, there we have it, bar injuries the TdF will be like the musketeers or tennis the last decade, a terrifying trio plus one.Jumpyjohn10-01-2025
- I doubt he and Remco will have much to argue over, they can both do their thing. All things considered, I doubt he’d have gotten a better deal. Maybe he’s the type that likes to stick with what he knows?Mistermaumau10-01-2025
- Whatever your feelings he brought success to the team and made the Belgians proud by succeeding in the classics.alsene10-01-2025
- I don't like him either. Makes sense that they'd give him oval wheels.Veganpotter10-01-2025
- She is the strongest and the strongest don't need no tactics. As soon as the road rises, she comes to the front and drops everybodyabstractengineer10-01-2025
- I feel like he is past his peakabstractengineer10-01-2025
- Its the curse of a French rider on a french teamabstractengineer10-01-2025