Is an arsenal of legal medications and supplements replacing doping in pro cycling?

In the 12 years since Lance Armstrong’s lifetime ban for doping shook the sporting world and turned the cancer survivor’s one-time hero status into that of the most notorious villain in pro cycling, the landscape of the sport has been drastically altered. However, the stunning recent performances of riders like Tadej Pogačar, who broke Armstrong’s climbing record on the Pla d’Adet, have revived suspicions.

There is no disputing that the level of professional cycling has risen beyond that of the EPO-fuelled era of the 1990s and 2000s, with Mathieu van der Poel smashing the speed records in Paris-Roubaix and the Poggio climbing record during Milan-San Remo and Pogačar breaking Marco Pantani’s record ascent of the Plateau de Beille.