After an incredible Milan-San Remo, a former professional cyclist has caused controversy after questioning the level of performance on Saturday.
In a long post on Instagram, Erwann Mentheour argued that cycling’s past should stop fans from accepting extraordinary performances without a bit of scrutiny.
“In cycling, admiration should never erase critical thinking,” he posted, adding that the more extreme a performance looks, the more it should invite questions, not insults or wild theories, but simple, necessary doubt.
Watching Tadej Pogačar race, win, repeat, and dominate, Mentheour said he struggles to accept the narrative being presented. The world champion did have a, well, unbelievable race, that is clear. The Team UAE Emirates rider crashed at the worst possible time, just before the Cipressa.
To win La Primavera in the first place was already a seemingly impossible task for Pogi. The climbs aren’t long or hard enough and getting to the line solo seemed improbable. The plan this year was to attack on the CIpressa, as opposed to the Poggio like last year. It’s longer, and slightly steeper. The problem was there was a headwind–not ideal for a solo attack on a climb.
After the crash, he was 30 seconds behind. Then, not only did he catch back on as the Cipressa began–no small feat when the best teams in the world are riding tempo. Then, he made it to the front on American Brandon McNulty’s wheel. And despite the crash, the team stuck to the plan–he attacked, and only Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel could hang on.
The Frenchman went on to describe a rider who rarely seems to drop off, who moves through seasons with remarkable consistency, and who appears capable of performing at the highest level “everywhere, all the time.” For him, that level of dominance goes far beyond anything he experienced during his own career, even at the highest level of the sport. He’s not the first to question some of these incredible performances, either. But there has been no direct evidence or proof of doping by any of the top riders, only suspicion from observers. And most of Pogi’s peers believe that he may very well be one of the greatest riders of all time.
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He pointed to cycling’s heavily tainted history, arguing the sport has too many scars to accept dominance at face value. In his words, cycling has “lied, cheated, hidden things, destroyed reputations, bodies, and…
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