Attacks in the peloton: Rafael Nadal, injections and cycling, two weights, two measures… really? – Eurosport EN

Since Sunday, there has been an inconvenient truth in the peloton. When the fans of the little queen barely pointed their eyes towards the Critérium du Dauphiné, other eyes of the peloton trailed towards the 16th arrondissement of Paris, Porte d’Auteuil. Rafael Nadal had just won a 14th title at Roland-Garros, a historic feat so awaited that the first questions were not so much about the scope of this new victory but about a possible last appearance of the Mallorcan on the clay of the capital city. A hypothesis, and a rumor of an exceptional press conference quickly swept away, before another debate takes place, much more corrosive. Nadal played the “anesthetized” foot, under the effect of injections of anti-inflammatories, the whole fortnight. It did not take less to sting some actors of the bike. It all started with four words and two emojis. In reaction to the Tweet from our journalist Laurent Vergne, and statements by the Spaniard to Eurosport – “It’s better that you don’t know” replied “Rafa” to Barbara Schett on the number of injections received during the tournament – , Thibaut Pinot placed a first attack. “Today’s heroes” and ellipsis tinged with irony.CyclingWiebes far too strong in the sprint: his victory on videoAN HOUR AGOThe Groupama-FDJ climber, who has already spoken many times against the use of any medication in cycling, opened the breach and the debate. Placing the words cycling, doping, or even adding Spain to them in the same sentence has given rise to all sorts of reactions, some frankly nauseating, in recent hours. But from these few words from Pinot emerges the groundswell of a latent malaise. be considered doping. Sports physicians around the world have been struggling with this consideration for many years. And above all, beyond whether his right is good or not, Nadal has – until proven otherwise – broken any rule of world tennis. For Pinot as for others, the problem is elsewhere. It doesn’t matter that he wears the identity of Rafael Nadal and his gnawed foot, of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his knee without anterior cruciate ligament all season long, or of any other sportsman regardless of the medical file. “Perhaps what Thibaut wants to highlight is that there are differences in regulations but also differences in treatment, image between sports” explains Guillaume Martin in the columns of L’Equipe this tuesday. The Cofidis runner does not hide it, he has “difficulty understanding” these differences in practice depending on the discipline concerned. A fortiori vis-à-vis cycling, regularly pilloried for its heavy past. “What Nadal did would have been impossible in cycling, and I find that normal, assures the 14th of the last Giro. or injured, we don’t run, we don’t compete, that seems like common sense to me. If a cyclist does the same thing, it’s already forbidden, but even if it weren’t, everyone would come across it calling it dope because there’s such a cultural background, such clichés attached to the bike.” Cycling still suffers from the institutionalized doping of the Festina in the 90s, the Armstrong and US Postal system of the 2000s and other more marginal examples since. To the point of questioning the least performance. The peloton has complied with more restrictive regulations, much more than in other sports, in an attempt to cleanse its image and its honor. “The bike has chosen to adopt very strict lines which have allowed cycling to restore its image, specifies the manager of AG2R-Citroën, Vincent Lavenu at France Inter. We have made sure that the health of the riders is the main thing to respect.””Is it worth continuing? He has given enough”The wishful thinking of uniform regulationsThe Movement for Credible Cycling – which includes half of the World Tour teams, including Groupama -FDJ and Cofidis – aims to go a little further with an even more drastic moral code (including a ban on controversial ketones). As Guillaume Martin points out in L’Equipe, just taking a “pill to be better” like paracetamol bothers him. So put two nerves to sleep with painkillers… Everyone sees their “grey zone” at their doorstep. For some, self-care is already too much. For others, such a treatment corrects pain but does not improve performance. To remedy this, there are many theories. The most implacable, on paper at least, would be the establishment of international and undifferentiated regulations depending on the sport. Put on an equal footing all the protagonists of the world of sport, Guillaume Martin “pleads” for that. A wish, a dream even as it seems difficult, even impossible, to get everyone to agree on a common base. The recent examples of Nadal, Ibrahimovic or even the practices of the major leagues across the Atlantic are witnesses to this. The NBA or the NFL set anti-doping regulations with their own actors and report neither to the World Anti-Doping Agency nor even to the American anti-doping agency, Usada. In the case of Rafael Nadal, once the “legal” considerations are put aside, all that remains is a matter of perception. The main interested party also proclaims in L’Equipe, “despite all these physical problems, or thanks to them, my body has helped me a lot to become who I am.” While ensuring that this cocktail between chronic pain and injections could not last longer. Too long no doubt for the cycling peloton, as much as the jeers at the slightest exploit. His passive still makes him the ideal ugly duckling. What Rafael Nadal is for nothing. Critérium du DauphinéGaudu: “I want to test myself before the against the world on Wednesday”AN HOUR AGOCritérium du DauphinéParet-Peintre: “We will have to limit damage on the last climb”AN HOUR AGO