Tadej Pogacar: No reason to doubt Tour de France champion over technological fraud or doping says UCI president

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Published 20/07/2021 at 10:06 GMT

Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de France for a second year in a row to become the youngest double winner of the race. The UAE Team Emirates rider won by over five minutes from second-place Jonas Vingegaard and said over the three weeks that he was not "angry" to face questions about his impressive performance.

International Cycling Union (UCI) president David Lappartient insists there is “no reason to have doubts” over the performances of two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar.

The 22-year-old followed up his 2020 triumph in dominant fashion as he won this year’s race by over five minutes from second-place Jonas Vingegaard.

Pogacar is the youngest double winner of the Tour and Lappartient has ruled out concerns of either technological fraud or conventional doping.

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“I have the pictures of Pogacar’s bike and everything is clean, regarding the results of the X-ray machine,” he told The Guardian.

“As UCI president I trust the international [anti-doping] testing agency in Lausanne.

“The only limit is the capacity of the lab themselves to detect – in all sports – some substances. We have a very solid and robust testing programme in cycling for both anti-doping and technological fraud and there is no reason to have doubts. However, zero risk doesn’t exist.”

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Pogacar said he was not “angry” to be asked about his performances during the Tour, given cycling's chequered past, but maintained his innocence with regard to doping.

“They are uncomfortable questions because the history of cycling was really bad. I totally understand why there are all of these questions. I didn’t prepare anything for those kind of questions.

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“I just like to ride my bike and what comes with it comes with it, I’ll deal with it. I’m a good kid with a good education, I’m not one to take shortcuts.

“We have many [doping] controls to prove them wrong. For example, I had three controls in one day – two before the stage and one after. So I think that gives enough weight to prove them wrong.”

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