Newly-crowned Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar admitted that there will "always be doubts" over whether cycling is free of doping, but argued it was the "cleanest sport".
Speaking in his post-victory press conference on Sunday evening, the UAE Team Emirates rider also called the idea of doping "super stupid" and that "it's not worth it".
The Slovenian won his third Tour by over six minutes, taking six stage wins along the way, leading some to doubt his performance. However, Pogačar stressed that cycling is "just a game" and that it is not everything.
"There will always be doubts, because cycling was so damaged in the past. Before my time," he explained. "In any sport, in any situation of life, if somebody's winning, there’s always jealousy, there’s always haters. If you don’t have haters, you’re not succeeding.
"There will always be someone who talks bad about someone. In cycling, WADA and the UCI have invested a lot of money and time to make this sport clean, and I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world because of what happened so many years ago."
"I tell you now, it’s not worth it [doping]," the 25-year-old argued. "Taking anything that could risk your health, risk your heart is super stupid, because you can cycle until 35 but then there’s a long way to enjoy life. It would be really stupid to throw this away and risk your life for racing. It’s just a game. It’s fun, you want to win, but it’s not everything.
"The most important thing is you are healthy, and we’re already pushing so much in the races, so there’s no reason to push the body even deeper. That’s just stupid."
On Saturday, the president of cycling's governing body, the UCI, said that it is a good thing that doping questions are being asked about performances at Tour, and that more should be invested in anti-doping research.
In an interview with French newspaper La Telegramme, David Lappartient said that he is in charge of a "robust anti-doping program". There have been no doping positives at this year's race, but climbing speeds are faster than ever.
At this Tour, Pogačar has also said he steers clear of "grey areas". "I think you should avoid the grey areas by far," he said. "I think a grey area is also caffeine and these kind of things. You just do what the doctors recommend, what is good for the health and follow those guidelines."
