The research findings on the Slovenian cliques in and around the peloton are particularly interesting. With a dubious medical technology company from Slovenia (Medico Tehna, [23]), the country that produces countless superstars of the professional cycling circus, Kafkaesque dimensions are reached, which, however, by no means surprise the scene insiders, but rather only confirm their criticism of the system. Fittingly, one of the supervisors involved in Operation Aderlass is exposed, and the trail once again leads to Slovenia [24].
Instead of heeding this wake-up call from the research, the usual reflexive denials are made in the formats close to the scene and attempts are made to discredit Hajo Seppelt’s documentary. They even suggest that this lobbying is being sold as investigative journalism. Because the same stunt was already played out in the 1990s, a current example [25] of former GCN presenters [26] illustrates how history unfortunately repeats itself.
It is undisputed that material developments have contributed to more powerful racing machines. The time advantage is measurable, but this is relativized, especially on uphill sections, where the older models do not have such significant disadvantages as on flat sections [27]. Riding times on climbs can distort comparability due to the course of the stage, weather conditions, or even material differences. Focusing on absolute and relative performance data is the decisive indicator. The data shown for the relative power mobilization of Armstrong (6.97W/kg BW, demonstrably doped) and Pogacar (7.1W/kg BW, not yet tested positive or otherwise convicted of doping) in comparable mountain time trials (Armstrong 2004 Alpe d’Huez, Pogacar 2025 Peyragudes) raise the question of how Pogacar 2025 can even exceed the doped values from supposedly naturally explainable resources if there was no performance-physiological epigenetic evolutionary leap in performance compared to that generation, which can be empirically ruled out. One would therefore first have to quantify the performance advantage that doping methods actually enable. And there is no study-based evidence for this, because no ethics committee would be allowed to approve such a study design. Unfortunately, at 14 minutes and 30 seconds into the report, any evidence basis is abandoned, as no reliable data on the performance advantage of doping methods is provided [28]. Thus, the analysis lacks any data basis for comparability, and all further conclusions are purely speculative. If you have supported athletes for many years, from junior athletes to professional athletes, are familiar with their performance data history, and have witnessed how they became veritable wattage mutants in the professional racing class through the use of various performance manipulations, then you can roughly imagine the dimensions by which doping can expand the performance spectrum. This means that there must be a plausible explanation that verifies the alignment of current performance data with the exorbitant performance improvements achieved at that time through doping.
It is postulated that it would have been possible to race faster 25 years ago. That is purely speculative, especially when the active substances currently in use are almost certainly what make it possible to race at full speed from the start and the athletes show no signs of fatigue towards the final. Furthermore, it is absurd to assume that an entire generation of sports directors and racing drivers would never have thought of trying out this tactic, to race at full speed from the start. The performance capabilities of the athletes at that time simply did not allow for this option, even though all illegal methods of performance manipulation had been fully exploited. There were, of course, experiments on this, but they ended with those involved running completely empty in the final.
Another argument is the supposedly significantly improved training methods, including hypoxia chains and modified interval training concepts. In my own archive, I can prove from hundreds of training plans that the only difference compared to the training variants available today, for example, on Trainingpeaks/WKO [29], is the significantly simpler data processing and preparation; back then, we simply carried out the entire data analysis in Excel format, which was much more complex. In terms of content, the training method concepts are absolutely comparable. The renaming of the training areas, for example, when a G1 is anglicized to LIT or an EB to SST, does not change this, because the performance-physiological threshold models still correspond to the same natural metabolic kinetics. The multi-week, intensively supervised altitude training camps in Mexico, Livigno, Font Romeu, St. Moritz, or the altitude training chambers in Kienbaum or the German Sports Academy (DSHS) Cologne, are also still very fresh in my memory.
The second aspect, nutritional optimization, also does not provide sufficient conditions for closing the performance gap from the doping era. The repeatedly cited increased carbohydrate (C) intake is, as already discussed, obsolete in the context of AICAR application and the glucose infusions of that time. Only the modified composition of various carbohydrate hydrogel preparations has led to improved bioavailability of oligo- and polysaccharides in gastrointestinal absorption. The carbohydrates are encapsulated in algal and fruit fiber compartments during gastric passage; the resulting biopolymer passes through the stomach undamaged and subsequently releases the carbohydrates into the intestinal lumen. While this transports more C to the absorption site, its absorption capacity remains unchanged. Thus, only more C can be made available orally compared to previous gel or drink applications [30]. The limitation of high carbohydrate intake due to gastrointestinal complaints, especially during peak performance (ex-GIS, [31]), could be compensated for by the aforementioned glucose infusions. Therefore, a study design comparing total carbohydrate intake and utilization with historical pre-competition infusions and carbohydrate administration during the race, compared with current competition nutrition management, would be interesting.
It becomes quite bizarre when it is claimed that young athletes today supposedly train in a more structured manner and have more detailed training plans than in the past. This certainly applies to training groups instructed by unqualified personnel. Contemporary witnesses to the meticulous supervision of squad athletes in the 1990s, with regular KLDs (complex performance diagnostics), year-round training plan provision, sports medical support, and training data analysis from heart rate monitors and mobile performance measurement systems, can therefore also refute this claim. A look into the archives of the KJS (children’s youth sports schools) of the GDR can also be quite helpful in this regard.
The conclusion of this article, designed for a cycling-oriented target group and featuring interview protagonists who, of all things, are functionaries in the criticized system, is that it is yet another of the numerous attempts at pseudo-enlightenment using token arguments. This crisis management communication technique has been aptly analyzed by the Göttingen sports sociologist Dr. Marcel Reinold in numerous academic publications [32]. The author of the vlog must at least be credited for admitting in his concluding summary that the argument is definitely in the subjunctive. A current look at the sporadically convicted [33] across the entire spectrum of global high-performance sport provides a subtle hint of how manipulation is still carried out across the board, according to all the rules of the (doping) art, because it is simply human nature to do so.
[1] https://ceramicspeed.com/en-eu/collections/ospw-aero, https://r2-bike.com/CERAMICSPEED-OSPW-Schaltwerkkaefig-System-Aero-Alpha-Coated-SRAM-Red-AXS-Force-AXS
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88vF0he6GQ bei 4min:41s Tour l´Avenir 2023, Highlight-Video der 17. Etappe des Giro d´Italia https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141818.htm
[4] Stimmen zur 17. Etappe des Giro d`Italia https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141816.htm
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvg068azkEY Giro d’Italia Stage 16 Analysis & Stage 17 Preview | THEMOVE+ 27min:16s
[7] Wenn zwei sich streiten, siegt der Klügste https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141855.htm, UAE hat den Gesamtsieg mit totalem Taktik-Fiasko verschenkt https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141857.htm
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7A2wOLy1gU Giro d’Italia Stage 20 Analysis & Stage 21 Preview | THEMOVE+, Einblicke in den Visma-Mannschaftswagen am Finestre und nach Sestriere https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141858.htm
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb5qgSVZnlI Giro d’Italia 2025 | Eine 20. Etappe für die Geschichtsbücher! | Finale um das Rosa Trikot | deutsch
[10] Giro d’Italia Stage 20 Analysis & Stage 21 Preview | THEMOVE+
[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APxZNxfhL_c Chris Horner- How UAE’s Directors FAILED Isaac del Toro
[12] https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_141856.htm
[13] https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2021/stage-20
[15] https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/giroditalia/tappe/tappe RAI 2 Mediathek
[17a] Die Chronik der Operation Aderlass https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_118462.htm
[17b] ARD-Dopingredaktion bemängelt nachlässige Verfolgung Mitarbeiter des Ineos-Teams in Operation Aderlass verstrickt https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_142106.htm
[18] https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/tour-de-france-2019-aicar-1.4530571, https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/von-der-epo-epoche-zur-aicar-aera-100.html
[19] https://fis.dshs-koeln.de/de/publications/aicar-to-saicar-ratio-can-serve-as-additional-marker-of-aicar-use, https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/doping-nachweisverfahren-fuer-aicar-gefunden-100.html
[21] https://www.dshs-koeln.de/visitenkarte/einrichtung/biochemie/
[22] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8147799/ AICAr, a Widely Used AMPK Activator with Important AMPK-Independent Effects: A Systematic Review, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AICA_ribonucleotide
[23] Neue Dokumentation der ARD-Dopingredaktion Slowenische Firma bietet weiterhin Blutdoping-Maschine an -> Medico Tehna https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_142100.htm
[24] https://www.sport1.de/news/radsport/tour-de-france/2025/07/zur-befragung-bei-ita-ineos-betreuer-im-fokus#google_vignette, Tadej Pogacar nimmt Stellung zu Dopingaffäre um slowenischen Betreuer bei Team Ineos – Weltmeister reagiert auf PK https://www.eurosport.de/radsport/tour-de-france/2025/tadej-pogacar-bezieht-stellung-david-rozman-sky-ineos-doping_sto23205923/story.shtml, Der seltsame Fall des Masseurs Rozman Ineos: Von “Null Toleranz“ zu “Null Transparenz“ https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_142553.htm, s.a. https://www.sport1.de/news/radsport/tour-de-france/2025/07/tour-de-france-brisante-zweifel-an-pogacar
[25] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3-1bv8_0lY Sind die Leistungen bei der Tour de France ohne Doping möglich?, vgl. auch https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/radio-rtw/id1752876303?i=1000714252313 Doping im Radsport? Mit Hajo Seppelt! Radio RTW By Richard Weinzheimer (GCN), Tobias Knaup, Max Walscheid
[26] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Cycling_Network
[27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B423iJ-nuTw Kampf der Generationen – Alt vs. Neu – Welches Rad ist schneller im GCN Fahrradgenerationen-Test?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawourSeonE The Fastest Climbing Bike Ever – But How Good Is It Now?
[28] vgl. a. https://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/ernaehrung/doping-mit-epo-macht-radsportler-nicht-schneller-a-1155233.html diese „Studien“ sind methodisch mangelhaft weil die dort angewandten EPO Kuren nicht dem Standard entsprechen, der damals angewandt wurde. Zu einer effektiven EPO Kur gehört mehr als nur die EPO Applikation!
[29] https://speed-ville.de/trainingpeaks-how-to/
[30] vgl. Maurten Patent -> WO2017/186940, https://www.maurten.com/de/faq/technology
[31] https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0311/2/3/21 Exercise-Induced Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Endurance Sports: A Review of Pathophysiology, Symptoms, and Nutritional Management
[33] Carboni von UCI vorläufig gesperrt https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_143057.htm, Omloop-Zweite Nerlo positiv auf Ligandrol getestet https://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_142680.htm, https://www.n-tv.de/sport/Mihambo-Konkurrentin-Bech-Romantschuk-fuer-Jahre-gesperrt-article25975282.html, https://www.n-tv.de/sport/Sperre-wegen-verpasster-Dopingkontrollen-Rodel-Medaillenfavoritin-Egle-fuer-Olympia-gesperrt-article25985943.html
[34] Corona: Diese Enquete-Kommission ist ein Witz https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=138801
[35] https://www.cicero.de/innenpolitik/internationale-gesundheitsvorschriften-who-globales-gesundheitsregime-corona-aufarbeitung, https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/kabinett-anpassung-igv-16-07-25.html
Source article image: https://fmach.it/en/content/download/8613/183604/file/POSTER_GIROTAPPE_A3_GIRO2025.pdf
The author studied chemistry and sports science, worked at the Institute of Biochemistry and Doping Analysis at the German Sport University Cologne, among other places. He was a founding member of the NADA DKS Commission (National Anti-Doping Agency, Doping Control System), co-authored the book “Doping in Cycling,” and has worked as a speaker in sports medicine continuing education and as a course director in coach training. He has trained junior elite athletes at performance centers for decades, supported professional cycling in various roles, and continues to actively participate in cycling himself.
ⒸCopyright by Dieter Quarz, publication only against payment and specimen copy.
