(Courchevel) Outrageous domination of Jonas Vingegaard, speed records and abyssal gaps rekindle the fires of suspicion on the Tour de France, but without tangible evidence to certify the use of doping.
“I completely understand the questions about this because of the past of our sport. It’s even good to be skeptical, because otherwise it will happen again. All I can say is that I’m not taking anything, ”assured Jonas Vingegaard on Sunday.
Two days later, the Dane outclassed everyone, including Tadej Pogacar, in a time trial on Tuesday swallowed up at such speed – 41,227 km/h on average over a very rough course – that he thought his power sensor was broken.
“I don’t remember any time in which the winner puts 4.5 seconds per kilometer in second place”, was surprised his compatriot Michael Rasmussen, excluded from the Tour in 2007, who admitted having doped during the dark years under EPO rule.
“It’s an impressive time and Pogacar’s was already impressive,” notes Arkéa-Samsic runner Simon Guglielmi, who adds: “everyone can ask questions, everyone has always wondered, I stay focused on my race”.
The gaps in the general classification are colossal: the third, Adam Yates, was on Wednesday morning almost nine minutes from the yellow jersey, the tenth, Félix Gall, more than… eighteen minutes.
“Obviously, the questions are not illegitimate on the various suspicions. We have been living with it for a long time, ”reacts the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme. But “the yellow jersey is tested every day and his bike too” and “the checks are carried out by an independent agency”, the International Testing Agency (ITA), “which was not the case before”, adds- he.
” Everything changed “
On Wednesday, the Jumbo-Visma and UAE teams also received a new visit from anti-doping controllers before the start of the 17e step, according to the specialized site Wielerflits. “I applaud this initiative, assured the boss of Jumbo-Visma, Richard Plugge, at the foot of the bus. This is a further step in the fight against doping. Jonas Vingegaard has undergone no fewer than four blood tests in the past 48 hours. We are happy to be able to cooperate. »
Beyond Vingegaard’s extraordinary time, this 110e edition was marked by ascent records in several passes climbed faster by Vingegaard and Pogacar than by cheaters like Lance Armstrong.
For Thibaut Pinot, who has regularly expressed doubts about the probity of certain adversaries, it is nevertheless “difficult to compare” the performances because of external factors which can differ greatly, such as the placement of the pass in the stage, the coating of road, weather conditions or wind direction.
“In the Grand Colombier, for example, we had a big tailwind,” he says, before adding: “but yes, it’s going very fast”.
To explain these supersonic averages, Vingegaard highlights the progress made in terms of nutrition, training and equipment, especially bicycles: “everything has changed”, insists the Dane.
“They even remove the paint”
And his team is renowned for pushing the sliders very far in these areas. “In the chrono, they even remove the paint on the bikes to save 150 grams”, underlines Tom Dumoulin, former teammate of Vingegaard, on the Flemish channel Sporza.
But is this enough to explain the domination of the yellow jersey and the stages of Jumbo-Visma in steamroller mode?
Actors in the community are cautious, but refuse to speak publicly, for lack of evidence on which to rely.
The controversial recourse by certain teams such as Jumbo-Visma or Soudal-Quick Step to ketones, an additional fuel for the muscles which is ingested in the form of a gel or a drink, the taking of which is not prohibited by the regulations, is also regularly pinned.
Without reaching the magnitude of the years of lead, several doping cases have shaken cycling in recent years. The Bahrain team has been targeted by several raids and its general manager suspected in connection with the Aderlass blood doping case in 2020.
The Colombians Nairo Quintana and Miguel Angel Lopez were recently dismissed by their teams, the first for using tramadol, the second because of his alleged links with a doctor at the center of a traffic in doping products.
As for mechanical or even genetic doping, no case has been detected in the Tour de France peloton to date.