Tadej Pogacar in yellow on the Champs-Elysées on September 20, 2020. -

Marco Bertorello / AFP

The surprising victory of Tadej Pogacar on the Tour de France and, more generally, the high overall performances of the riders during this 2020 edition sowed confusion in some French minds who see the return of the specter of doping.

This was the case on two occasions with our colleagues from

Ouest-France

where, after the first outing of Romain Feuillu who explained "that there is eel under the rock" in view of the hallucinating performances of Wout Van Aert with the Jumbo team - Visma, it is the turn of Stéphane Heulot, yellow jersey on the 1996 Tour, to express his doubts about the probity of certain riders.

“Honestly, I haven't watched the Tour since Sunday and the climb of the Grand-Colombier (victory for Tadej Pogacar), he confides.

I can't do it anymore, in fact… There are things that are quite easy to assess, in terms of performance, anyway.

I find it hard to understand how a 75 kg runner can climb a pass at breakneck speed and maintain his climb thereafter.

In terms of speed of climb, we saw things that were not possible, either, for some ... "

Where did the next generation of Bardet and Pinot go, by the way?

via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/D5uxe2nJvk

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) September 21, 2020

For Pogacar, cycling "does a lot against doping"

The latter, who does not hesitate to suspect both "chemical doping, but also electrical", admits to having "want to vomit".

“It disgusts me,” he blurted out before dwelling on the case of Mauro Gianetti, his teammate at the Française des Jeux in 1998 and current manager of Tadej Pogacar within the UAE Emirates team, who has been involved in doping cases several times.

“That people like that, or like others, are still in cycling today is unthinkable.

It is a real fault.

In my opinion, we will never be able to change the system if we do not change the men, breathes Stéphane Heulot.

Doping will be there as long as people are steadfast.

It's as if tomorrow, Al Capone was Minister of Justice… (…) No, it's not possible… Fortunately, guys have changed, lots of guys have changed, but there are still cheaters unfortunately, and we must be aware of it.

"

Asked after his victory about the doubts surrounding his victory, the Slovenian explains that doping "goes against everything I believe in".

“I know that doping puts the health of athletes in danger, I have always been aware of this.

I would say we have nothing to hide today and I think cycling, despite this climate of suspicion, is a sport that does a lot against doping.

In truth, it saddens me that people doubt my performance.

My only defense is to have my conscience on my side, ”he concluded.

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