Tom Dumoulin defended Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) on Thursday evening, saying the Tour leader’s dominant stage six victory provided no evidence of wrongdoing.
Speaking on NOS De Avondetappe, Dumoulin acknowledged why Pogačar’s performance had prompted suspicion among some Dutch viewers. He said that reaction was shaped by cycling’s history, while stressing there was no present evidence against Pogačar.
The discussion followed Thursday’s first major high-mountain test of the 2026 Tour de France. UAE Team Emirates XRG controlled the pace across the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet before Isaac del Toro launched Pogačar five kilometres from the Tourmalet summit.
Pogačar rode away from Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), completed the final 43 kilometres alone and won in Gavarnie-Gèdre by 2:38. The victory also put him into the yellow jersey.
Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) had begun the stage 7:53 ahead of Pogačar in the general classification. He was dropped on the Tourmalet and later crashed during the descent, while Pogačar continued alone towards the finish.
Pogačar also broke the record for the Tourmalet ascent in a time of 43:02 - beating his previous joint record with Vingegaard by over two minutes, and putting more than four minutes into historic best efforts by riders such as Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. It comes off the back of several seasons of successive record breaking efforts from the Slovenian rider.
The scale of the winning margin generated online cynicism and brought the doping question into the De Avondetappe discussion, as it has across the cycling landscape in speculation that has been common across decades of the sport.
Why Dumoulin says suspicion persists
Dumoulin said he understood why performances beyond familiar expectations caused viewers to ask questions, especially in the Netherlands. Cycling had helped create that response through its history with doping and related scandals, he said.
Dumoulin said those doubts were understandable but unsubstantiated. Dumoulin said: “There is, in fact, no reason or evidence to the contrary. Such evidence and indications did exist in the past, but actually not at all now.”
Dumoulin said he hoped everything was fair and that viewers should proceed on that assumption unless evidence gave them a reason to reconsider. His position was that the sport’s past can inform scrutiny, but suspicion alone should not count against a rider.
“First and foremost, I look at a cyclist I enjoy immensely. I think we’re simply looking at a super talent,” he said.
Dumoulin compared the reaction around Pogačar with attempts to understand Lionel Messi’s ability in football. Audiences try to reduce rare athletic talent to explanations that fit ordinary experience, he argued, but sometimes cannot account for how far an exceptional performer sits ahead of their peers.
That inability to explain dominance can produce resistance, Dumoulin said, especially among Dutch followers. He described the suspicion as a compliment to Pogačar because it reflected how extraordinary his level appeared to viewers.
Dumoulin used the comparison to describe the tension between admiration and disbelief when an athlete keeps exceeding expectations.
“We do not understand it, but above all, we should enjoy it,” Dumoulin said. “Every now and then, someone comes along with that kind of enormous mega-talent.”
Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux
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