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

The President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), David Lappartient, insists that there is “no reason to have doubts” about the performance of two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar.

Pogacar is the youngest double winner of the Tour and Lappartient has dismissed fears of technological fraud or conventional doping.

“I have the pictures of Pogacar’s bike and everything is clean, as far as the results of the x-ray machine go,” he said. The Guardian.

“As President of the UCI, I have confidence in the international [anti-doping] testing agency in Lausanne.

“The only limitation is the ability of the laboratory itself to detect – in all sports – certain substances. We have a very strong and robust testing program in cycling for anti-doping and technology fraud and there is no reason to be in doubt. However, there is no such thing as zero risk.

Pogacar said he was not “angry” to be asked about his performance during the Tour, given cycling’s turbulent past, but maintained his innocence regarding doping.

“These are uncomfortable questions because the history of cycling was so bad. I fully understand why there are all these questions. I have not prepared anything for these kinds of questions.

“I just like to ride a bike and whatever comes with it, I’ll take care of it. I am a good boy with a good education, I am not the type to take shortcuts.

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