As the dominator of the cycling scene, Jonas Vingegaard is aware of the skepticism of many observers – and repeatedly speaks openly about the doping issue in a sport that was previously plagued with fraud. In an interview with the Danish “Ekstra Bladet”, the two-time Tour de France winner has now commented in detail about a missed doping test in 2019.
“It’s not nice when you miss a test. It’s definitely something I think about to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said the 26-year-old. According to the statutes of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a single missed test is not a major problem for a professional athlete – a ban only threatens after several violations.
In total, it is tested around 60-70 times per year, explained Vingegaard. Like his colleagues, he has to specify a time slot every day in order to be available for possible checks. “You always have to remember it,” he said of the system: “It’s tedious, but when I’m just at home it’s not that difficult.”
The numerous tests in modern professional cycling are a “good thing,” says Vingegaard, but he is aware that they cannot completely dispel doubts. “It helps. All the tests are negative, but in a way that sounds hollow because they were also tested 20 years ago,” said the Dane.
Nevertheless, cycling is much cleaner today than it was during the doping heyday of the 1990s and 2000s: “I don’t take anything, and since I was able to win the Tour de France twice without taking anything, I think everyone else doesn’t take anything either take,” said Vingegaard. “I think it’s a shame that we are suffering because of what happened 20-30 years ago.”