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Tadej Pogacar tackles doping questions at Tour de France: "I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world"
CyclingMonday, 22 July 2024 at 10:52
Tadej Pogacar has reached the top of the cycling world once again, beating Jonas Vingegaard to win the Tour de France three years after his last triumph. The Slovenian is without a doubt the rider of the season and the best in the current peloton, having achieved unheard success for this generation. Logically, the topic of doping has surged and was brought up to him in the press conference that followed the race, and he has given his opinion on the matter.
"There will always be doubts, because cycling was so damaged in the past. Before my time," Pogacar said in the post-race press conference. "In any sport, in any situation of life, if somebody's winning, there’s always jealousy, there’s always haters. If you don’t have haters, you’re not succeeding. There will always be someone who talks bad about someone. In cycling, WADA and the UCI have invested a lot of money and time to make this sport clean, and I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world because of what happened so many years ago."
Pogacar, because of his ability to win and to perform very well on different terrains, has been the target of suspicions over the past few months, naturally accentuated during the Grand Boucle where he has won six stages, the yellow jersey and put in a few climbing performances where he was head and shoulders above the other best climbers in the world. Even within the peloton there are a few words of doubt.
"I tell you now, it’s not worth it. Taking anything that could risk your health, risk your heart is super stupid, because you can cycle until 35 but then there’s a long way to enjoy life," the Slovenian said. "It would be really stupid to throw this away and risk your life for racing. It’s just a game. It’s fun, you want to win, but it’s not everything".
This Sunday Pogacar won his third consecutive stage win, and sealed off the yellow jersey in style in Nice, a very popular win with the stage starting right by his home in Monaco. "The most important thing is you are healthy, and we’re already pushing so much in the races, so there’s no reason to push the body even deeper. That’s just stupid."
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