Jonas Vingegaard ‘100% sure’ colleagues Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic are ‘not taking anything’ amid doping scepticism
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Published 16/09/2023 at 21:23 GMT
Jonas Vingegaard strongly defended himself and Jumbo-Visma co-leaders Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic following scepticism around the team's Vuelta a Espana performance at a press conference on Saturday. Asked whether their results would stand in 10 or 15 years' time, Vingegaard - who is set to finish second in Spain on Sunday - explained he was “100%” confident his team “are not taking anything.”
‘They were amazing’ - Kuss praises Jumbo team-mates after retaining Vuelta lead
A strong defence from Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard was made on Saturday to brush aside scepticism over his team’s performance at the Vuelta a Espana.
Vingegaard, who is in second place in the general classification and is set to finish in the same spot on Sunday, said he was “100% sure” co-leaders Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic, as well as himself, “are not taking anything” as their performances are scrutinised.
Kuss is set to win the race outright on Sunday, while triple Vuelta champion Roglic is expected to finish third - either side of Vingegaard in second.
But when asked whether the team’s results would stand in 10 or 15 years' time, Vingegaard was forced to defend any talk of doping by the trio.
“For sure we understand the scepticism but people should know how much we sacrifice for everything, how much we go into the details,” he said at a press conference following Stage 20. “Especially in this team we just do everything perfect, basically, and it makes such a big difference. I don’t think people realise how much difference that actually makes.
“It’s always good to be sceptical, specially when a team is doing well, as long as it’s not allegations. I think as long as we speak about it because of what happened 20 years ago then I think, hopefully, we can prevent it happening again.
“I’m 100% sure my two colleagues here are not taking anything - as well as myself.”
Discussions had taken place in the third week of the race when Vingegaard and Roglic switched their own priorities in the general classification to assist Kuss’ bid for glory.
Although the Dane was open about the talk of doping and supported the anti-doping process, he was more reserved when it came to internal tactics.
“It’s not everything that the press should know, in my opinion,” he said. “Not that there were any problems. That’s something we discussed internally on the team.
“If you do sports, you shouldn’t do it for the money, you should do it because you like it,” he answered when asked whether that decision would hurt him financially.
“You might get a bonus [for a win], you might not, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that my good friend [Kuss] is winning the Vuelta a Espana and I’m happy for him.”
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Highlights: Poels outsprints Evenepoel for win on Stage 20 of Vuelta, Kuss retains lead
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