Dominance and doubt: Analysts address doping talk around UAE

Pro cycling has a pretty rough history of doping, so it’s not surprising when riders dominate, that’s the first thought. Tadej Pogačar, and in fact many of his UAE Team Emirates équipiers, have been doing this for a while. Pogi’s incredible run of wins — and by an incredible margin — have raised eyebrows over the years. Even the other day when he posted his Strava numbers — a rarity with many pros these days — fans were all like…whoa. So it’s not surprising — especially given some of the folks associated with the team — scrutiny follows.

Writing in Wielerrevue, former Conti rider, now journalist and DS Thijs Zonneveld spoke about doping rumours which pop up now and again. “The evidence is zero, but the skepticism is completely justified,” he said.

Zonneveld said that skepticism with regards to UAE doesn’t exactly come out of nowhere. The team’s leadership includes some dudes who were previously connected to some big-time doping-era controversies, notably UAE manager Mauro Gianetti. Given cycling’s history, he said, it is understandable that people question things.

During the 1998 Tour de Romandie, Mauro Gianetti abandoned a stage and later fell unconscious. He then spent 10 days in intensive care as doctors initially searched for the cause of his life-threatening condition. Two physicians suspected the use of a blood oxygen–enhancing substance and alerted authorities, but Gianetti later pursued legal action that halted the public release of the investigation. Plus, during his time with the former Saunier Duval team, there were a few other doping incidents, involving riders like Riccardo Riccò and Juan José Cobo.

But, he also said that just because you go faster doesn’t mean you’re cheating. Simply put there is no concrete evidence implicating the team. “Performance alone cannot serve as a verdict,” he writes.

So how does he explain UAE’s sustained edge? Zonneveld points first to cash. Backed by some pretty deep pockets, the team has been able to recruit and retain top-tier talent. In a market where every WorldTour squad pursues emerging stars, UAE’s budget often proves decisive.

Zonneveld adds that today’s anti-doping framework — particularly the biological passport system — makes organized, team-wide programs far harder to conceal. Individual manipulation may still be possible, he suggests, but a coordinated operation improving an entire roster would be extremely difficult to hide.

The…