With Tadej Pogačar facing suspicions that often accompany
spectacular performances in cycling, especially at the Tour de France, Dan
Martin has said any rider is innocent until proven guilty.
The Irish climber, who has been attacking in recent
stages, also pointed to some of the circumstances that make the race leader’s
performance look so spectacular.
Martin said while there was an obvious “history” – of doping – in the sport, that history should not be placed on the shoulders of 22-year-old Pogačar unless there was good reason. And so far he had seen no such reason.
“We shouldn’t be here to judge him. We live in a world where it’s innocence until proven guilty," Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) said.
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"You can see the skill he has on the bike, and you could see how he was totally exposed there in the final, and he was still fighting alone and he was doing a good job,” Martin told VeloNews on the Tour.
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“We have to see what the future holds, but right now, we
have to respect him and respect the yellow jersey,” he said, adding suspicions
around exceptional performances were a result of “the world we live in” and the
“history of the sport”.
He also said Pogačar had gained much of his time in
difficult conditions that suited him, and were not suited to his rivals. But on
the issue of doping, he said all riders had to be able to look at themselves in
the mirror and be happy with what they saw.
He added Pogačar had shown some weakness on Mont Ventoux when it was very hot. In those conditions missing even one bottle could prove very costly, Martin said, though he agreed the Tour was now the race leader’s to lose.
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