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“With Lance Armstrong there was by no means any proof, however we riders within the peloton knew about his deception. Now precisely the identical factor is occurring.”
These very robust phrases got here from former skilled bike owner turned group supervisor Jérôme Pineau who, on the sports activities podcast Les Grandes Gueules du Sport – RMC, publicly accused the American Sepp Kuss of mechanical doping throughout this yr’s Vuelta a Esapaña. The allegations got here following the Jumbo-Visma rider’s jaw-dropping assault on the Tourmalet throughout Stage this previous Friday.
Kuss has been placing in an distinctive efficiency throughout this yr’s Vuelta for what’s indisputably essentially the most dominant group within the peloton proper now—Jumbo-Visma. Afterall, the group has had two different star riders on the best podium in each of the opposite Grand Excursions this yr, and goes after a record-breaking hat trick with a Vuelta win. They at the moment occupy spots 1-2-3. To say they’ve been on the high of their sport this yr could be an unlimited understatement.
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All through these two different Grand Excursions, Kuss was a loyal soldier and an absolute tremendous domestique who made these wins for Jumbo-Visma doable. He was elemental in securing a win for teammate Jonas Vingegaard at this year’s Tour de France, and performed a vital supporting function in his teammate Primož Roglič’s victory in this year’s Giro d’Italia. Many followers have been ready and hoping for Kuss to get his time to shine, which fueled the pre-race hypothesis about whether or not the Vuelta could be his alternative to go after the highest podium himself.
However apparently not everyone seems to be a fan. Pineau, who prior to now raced for QuickStep amongst different groups and was most just lately group supervisor for the B&B Lodges-KTM group, the group whose sudden preseason collapse left workers and riders, together with Mark Cavendish, scrambling for brand new employment on the eleventh hour, has made that clear.
“We see the photographs,” he mentioned on the podcast of Kuss’ efficiency throughout Stage 13. “I’m not speaking about doping, however about one thing that’s even worse. Mechanical doping? Sure, mechanical. For those who watch Sepp Kuss’s assault on the Col du Tourmalet, towards riders like Juan Ayuso, Cian Uijtdebroeks–who is a good expertise–and Marc Soler. They’re not so sluggish on bikes, are they? Kuss rides ten kilometres per hour sooner together with his assault, then has to decelerate due to a spectator after which rides ten kilometres per hour sooner after.”
The assault in query got here at about 1.2km earlier than the mountain-top end atop what might be essentially the most well-known climb in bike racing, the mighty Col du Tourmalet. The transfer could be seen within the spotlight video above at in regards to the 4 minute mark.
“How do you clarify that?” Pineau continued. “Biking is my sport, I’ve lived from it and nonetheless dwell from it. It’s my ardour, however I’m nonetheless scared. It worries me loads. I see sure issues occurring…Kuss advances ten seconds with out pedaling. I simply don’t understand how that’s doable.”
It must be famous that Pineau has zero proof that something about his accusation that Kuss is mechanically doping is definitely true. As such, Jumbo-Visma wasted no time firing again after the allegations hit the media. The group’s Director Merjin Zeeman didn’t mince phrases in his response to the state of affairs, reported by GCN Plus.
“Feedback of a ‘group supervisor’ who signed a number of riders and workers after which in October it turned out that he was fooling everyone and put all these individuals in a nasty place? That individual can discuss others?” Zeeman mentioned to the outlet.
It must also be famous that that is removed from the primary time a rider has been accused of mechanical doping, and that intensive tools checks are carried out by the UCI at WorldTour races to ensure the group’s bikes adjust to a laundry checklist of kit necessities and guidelines. So far, nobody has ever been discovered to be mechanically doping.
In keeping with Cycling Weekly, an unnamed spokesperson for Jumbo Visma indicated that the group is just not taking Pineau’s feedback critically.
“We proceed to elucidate transparently how we work and what the idea of our successes is (vitamin, altitude coaching, high tools, and so forth.). As well as, we discover it unusual that the media give somebody a platform with out with the ability to correctly substantiate his accusations. Particularly figuring out the harm that the identical individual has just lately carried out to biking together with his delusions.”
Jumbo-Visma—and Sepp Kuss—are clearly protecting their eye on the prize. The consultant mentioned the group stays fully centered on profitable their third Grand Tour in a single yr and ensuring 2023 goes down within the historical past books because the season of the Jumbo-Visma hat trick, which at this level looks as if a really probably consequence. Whether or not Kuss is within the high spot on the finish of the race stays to be seen. If he wins, he would be the first American in a decade to win a Grand Tour.
Natascha Grief bought her first bike store job earlier than she was sufficiently old to drink. After a six-year stint as a mechanic, incomes a pair pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Biking Race Mechanics license, she turned obsessive about framebuilding and determined she wished to do this subsequent. After Albert Eistentraut actually shooed her off his doorstep, admonishing that if she pursued framebuilding she will probably be poor ceaselessly, she landed an apprenticeship with framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood Metropolis, CA. After that, she spent a number of years working for each massive and not-so-large biking manufacturers. Someplace in there she additionally turned a licensed bike fitter. Natascha then turned a licensed private coach and spent 9 years honing her expertise as a coach and coach, whereas additionally educating Spin. In the course of the dumpster fireplace that was the yr 2020, she opened a health studio and commenced contributing commonly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a contract author. In 2022, she joined the workers of Bicycling as Information Editor.
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