Retiring pro defends Tadej Pogacar from doping speculation - "As a professional cyclist you cannot be influenced by that and think that everyone is cheating"

Lilian Calmejane has enjoyed a career as a relatively popular rider in the peloton and also one who has achieved a lot, having won at the 2017 Tour de France as a career highlight. This winter he is retiring from pro cycling and he has talked about Tadej Pogacar, his performances and how it relates to the doping speculation that is cast upon the Slovenian.

“Look at this year’s Olympic Games, at Léon Marchand, many must have doubts about what he did. Or at the greatest of all time, Usain Bolt. There will always be ultra-dominant people,” Calmejane said in an interview with Cyclism'Actu.

“But who says that Tadej Pogacar will continue at this level for five years? I am not sure. It is normal that there are questions, cycling is a difficult sport with a scandalous past and that will continue for a long time".

After the tremendous 2024 season where he won 25 races, among them two monuments, the World Championships, two Grand Tours and 12 stage wins between them - as well as having climbing numbers that have beaten records - a lot of people who keep up with the sport have began thinking about the sport of 20, 30 years ago.

Cycling continues to be affected by it's history of athletes who took to doping to significantly improve their performances and achieve great success with it, gaining a reputation within sports as one where these acts are regular. Despite having gained more confidence over the past decades, the doubts cannot ever be fully cleared, and currently with Pogacar's success naturally a lot of comments on the veracity of his performances surge.

Happening so much outside the peloton, you could only imagine the same takes place within the peloton. But Calmejane, a World Tour rider since 2021, does not share that sentiment and in relative terms also comes out to defend the UAE Team Emirates rider from the speculation: “As a professional cyclist you cannot be influenced by that and think that everyone is cheating,”