So it’s the magical time of yr once we’re all transported to the French Alps. It’s when the Tour de France is on within the background whereas we’re speculated to be working, and when each climb feels prefer it could be the one the place somebody lastly cracks.
It’s additionally once we begin wanting previous the apparent favorites, questioning if a rider tucked someplace within the bunch is about to have the day of his life and switch the race the other way up. Then the true mountains arrive, the brand new local weather turns merciless, the roads pitch up, and the attrition price rises. It’s superior, and it’s biking at its greatest.
Final however not least, we ask, “Is what I’m watching naturally doable, or am I signing as much as be let down by one other super-human once-in-a-lifetime effort?”
Is The Tour de France Clear?
The latter query has bubbled to the highest extra lately, particularly as Tadej Pogačar seems to be all however clear for a fifth Tour de France victory. Anybody who lived (and believed) by means of the Lance Armstrong period is aware of the sensation, that cheated feeling.
Who can we actually ask about these kinda of issues? Our buddy (and chronic thorn in biking’s doping aspect) Phil Gaimon determined to take a distinct strategy to his yearly “are they doping?” Tour de France speak.
This time, Gaimon brings on Tom Danielson for an extended dialog about doping. If you already know something about Tom Danielson, it is a fairly massive deal. You possibly can test it out within the video under or within the linked podcast.
This visitor selection shouldn’t be random. Danielson comes together with his personal historical past, together with doping sanctions. It’s a dialog between individuals who know the game’s baggage. However nonetheless suppose the present peloton deserves greater than blanket suspicion each time the racing will get laborious to imagine.
Gaimon shouldn’t be asking anybody to neglect biking’s previous, hes asking us to not neglect; it’s inconceivable to not. As a result of there’s a distinction between wholesome skepticism and simply yelling “doping” at each consequence you don’t perceive.
So…Are They All Doping?
The dialog between Gaimon and Danleison delves into the uncomfortable points of being a biking fan in 2026. We wish quick racing, massive assaults, and history-making performances. Sadly… once they occur, half the web decides they have to be faux. That stress shouldn’t be going away, particularly on the Tour.
However Gaimon’s dialog is value listening to. As a result of the previous issues, up-to-date drug testing issues, and transparency issues. So does giving present riders not less than some room to race earlier than dragging each previous scandal again onto their shoulders.
Doping speak will at all times be a part of biking. Possibly it needs to be. The game earned that baggage the laborious means. However this video is a greater dialog than the standard comment-section sludge.
Watch the video, hear the argument, then determine the place you land.
