"We had to win. Not winning was not an option" - Johan Bruyneel draws parallels between US Postal and Jumbo-Visma

Disgraced ex-pro and former manager of Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel has sensationally drawn parallels between his own US Postal set-up from back in the day and Jumbo-Visma.

Jumbo-Visma are arguably the most dominant team in the peloton today and through Jonas Vingegaard took victory at the most recent edition of the Tour de France. "As a winning team, we were so focused on the Tour that we lived in a bubble that we created ourselves," Bruyneel recalls to HLN. "We won the Tour once and then twice. And from then on there was never a plan B. We had to win. Not winning was not an option.”

Read also

"These are the best wattages I've ever ridden" - Jonas Vingegaard confident of evolution into 2023

Although Bruyneel doesn't make any insinuation that Jumbo-Visma are doping as US Postal used to he believes there are parallels that can be drawn. “We had conflicts with the media, media meant distraction. That didn't fit our tunnel vision. We became arrogant. Because we won and kept winning, we naturally got into a position where no one wanted to see that happen again," says Bruyneel. 

"Jumbo-Visma will also find itself in such a situation," he continues. "Today I think doping is as good as gone. If anything, it's minor. Nothing that gives a five or ten percent advantage. Everyone plays by the same rules. If Jumbo-Visma now specializes in altitude training, sophisticated nutrition, training, recovery, aerodynamics, then everyone is trying to get to the same height. That's always the case, that's part of competition."

Read also

"There are now statistics that only Merckx and Pogacar can present" - Johan Bruyneel