Merijn Zeeman, head of Jumbo-Visma, responded strongly to the mechanical doping accusations made by Jérôme Pineau on the British channel GCN. According to the Dutchman, Pineau is not in a position to speak about others, as he allegedly disbanded an entire cycling team in the middle of the season.
Pineau launched an attack on Jumbo-Visma on Monday on the podcast RMC Sport Les Grandes Gueules du Sport. The Frenchman accused the Dutch team of using mechanical doping.
“If you look at Sepp Kuss’s attack on the Col du Tourmalet, against riders like Juan Ayuso, Cian Uijtdebroeks, and Marc Soler. They’re not losers on bikes, are they? Kuss goes ten kilometers per hour faster during his attack, has to brake for a spectator, and then goes ten kilometers per hour faster again.”
Watch the moment of the attack:
“There has never been any evidence with Lance Armstrong, but we, the riders in the peloton, knew of his deceit. Now the exact same thing is happening,” Pineau stated.
Zeeman responded strongly to Pineau’s remarks. The head of the Dutch team accused Pineau of lacking credibility to speak on the matter since in 2022, he closed the B&B Hotels team, leaving several people unemployed.
“We’re receiving comments from a ‘team manager’ who hired multiple riders and staff members who ended up on the streets again in October because he deceived everyone? Does he have the right to speak about others?” said the Dutchman from Jumbo-Visma.
