Jonas Vingegaard defended himself after his astonishing performances sparked media scrutiny. The Dane had a time trial, decimating his competitor Tadej Pogačar by 1 minute and 38 seconds, increasing his overall advantage to 1:48. The next day, he won the Tour by six minutes over the Slovenian. With Paris on the horizon, the yellow jersey is all but guaranteed.
Following the time trial performance, social media was flooded with inquiries about his performance. Even L’Équipe, a daily sports publication in France, took a not-so-subtle shot with the headline ‘D’une autre planète.
The news organization used the same phrase when Lance Armstrong went on to win the 1999 Tour de France in one of the greatest comebacks in history. Armstrong, an American, turned from a one-day racer to a Grand Tour champion after beating cancer. He then acknowledged using drugs throughout the whole seven-race Tour de France.
Given cycling’s tarnished history, it’s no surprise that some are skeptical of extraterrestrial achievements. Faced with a storm of queries about his performances, the Dane maintains that he has never used illegal substances.”
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His response to the Dutch news station NOS, as reported by CyclingUpToDate, alluded to the disgraced American cyclist, stating that things had changed.
“It’s hard to tell what more I can say. I understand that it’s hard to trust in cycling with the past there has been. Nowadays, everyone is different than it was 20 years ago,” he said. “I can tell from my heart that I don’t take anything. I don’t take anything I would not give to my daughter, and I would definitely not give her any drugs.”
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“I can say that these are not times like with Lance Armstrong. We run on different fuel than Armstrong did. The sport is clearly different now. I am happy that I won the stage on Tuesday and I am 100 per cent sure that no one will ever take those victories away from me,” he stated.
