"They’ve surpassed the benefits of doping by technology" - George Hincapie hopeful modern peloton aren't falling into a “dark era of cycling" as he did

With a professional career spanning nearly 20 years, George Hincapie saw the peloton develop a lot during his time as a rider. In order to keep up with the best of his age however, the American admittedly took some short cuts.

“I was part of the dark era of cycling,” Hincapie, a former super domestique for Tour de France winners such as Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans, admits in conversation with Cycling Weekly. Watching the current peloton however, the now 51-year-old is quite hopeful that today's generation haven't fallen into the same pitfalls as he did back in the day. “I think the sport is in such a better place now. [Athletes] will never be confronted with those decisions that we were. They’re so focused on nutrition, technology, altitude training. In many ways, they’ve surpassed the benefits of doping by technology."

In America, the scandal of the likes of Hincapie and Armstrong among others, turned the nation away from the sport of cycling for a long while. In the new generation, led by Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Brandon McNulty, Kristen Faulkner and others however, the 17-time Tour de France starter Hincapie, is happy to see the image of the sport begin to be resurrected.

“I think having such good American talent, men and women, is going to help inspire a new generation of cyclists," he says with optimism. "You always see that the better the pros do, the more it seems like younger guys get into it or get inspired. I think that’s going to really help and we’ll see a lot more talent head over to Europe."

Through his own work, Hincapie is also making an effort to help the next generation of American cyclists. “I think this community [Bentonville] is really going to play a big role in it. They’re investing so much in cycling here, and they’re doing a lot to bring events like ours in," he concludes. "Hopefully, with some racing in the future. You see so many kids on bikes here.”