As cycling’s season prepares for its traditional curtain raiser at Opening Weekend — the cobbled races of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne take place this Saturday and Sunday — the usual narratives and talking points are already doing the rounds.

Will Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel dominate the spring campaign again? Will an attempt at the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double prove too much for Jonas Vingegaard? And how will early-season injuries to Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen and other key figures affect their campaigns?

There’s another common conversation among the peloton and around the bus paddocks, but one you’re unlikely to hear in public: the threat of an imminent doping scandal or a slew of doping cases.

This article was published by The Athletic (and reproduced in the New York Times) in February 2026. To read the full article click here.