When it comes to cheating, Greg LeMond gives Tadej Pogacar the “benefit of the doubt”: “There’s only one person I saw the real physical evidence to go: that guy’s doing something not right”

One of the most famous cyclists in American history, Greg LeMond won the Tour de France three times, in 1986, 1989, and 1990. This year, though, Tadej Pogacar won the French Grand Tour and went on to have one of the best racing seasons ever.

There have been some negative comments about how brilliant the Slovenian is, but LeMond himself thinks he can come up with a reason for the record-breaking results in 2024. “I think the riders today are less muscular than they were when we were around.” He told Eurosport that the average rider today would be three to four kilogrammes lighter, and that “every kilogramme saves about a minute up a climb.”

Even though LeMond has spoken out against doping in the past, he doesn’t think that should be the first thing that happens when a rider starts to do well. “I like to give people the benefit of doubt,” says he. “I only saw real physical proof of one person being guilty: that guy’s doing something wrong,” he says, referring to Lance Armstrong.

“In my calculations, I’ve got Pogacar doing 410 / 420 watts and that’s absolutely in the realm that I could have done,” says LeMond. “It’s hard to compare eras and it’s hard to go: ‘because they’re beating the EPO period that they have to be on EPO’, I’m just saying there’s some real logic as to why riders are going faster today and it’s not new training theories, it’s that they’re under the gun to race and it’s all power to weight ratio.”

“Pogacar is truly a remarkable artist. “So, it’s “amazing” what he’s doing, but there are always one or two riders ahead at the Tour de France, even during the Eddy Merckx era of Tour de France in the 1980s,” the American says. “So as dominating as he was, he really wasn’t that much more dominating than Vingegaard.”