Cyclists question Zlatan’s and Nadal’s syringes

After the final of the French Open On Sunday, Rafael Nadal was asked by Eurosport how many shots he took during the tournament.

– It’s probably better that you do not know, he said with a laugh.

“Heroes of the day …” commented French star cyclist Thibaut Pinot ironically made the statements on Twitter.

Rafael Nadal has a chronic illness that causes pain in the foot, and said that the syringes he takes mean that he has no feeling in it when he plays.

In cycling there is for over ten years now a rule that one must not take injections unless there is a medical reason.

Thibaut Pinot talked last year about how uncomfortable he felt when he received a cortisone injection after the season to treat a long-term back injury, and said that he had never done it between two races.

– What Nadal did would have been impossible in cycling, and I find it normal, says his compatriot Guillaume Martin to The Team.

He also says that in addition to the regulations, there is a cultural difference between cycling and other sports.

– People praise Nadal for being able to take it so far with the pain. I think Zlatan Ibrahimovic also talked about his knee injections. They are seen as heroes because they endure pain, but in reality they use drugs to do so, and it is really on the borderline. Winners on bicycles, especially in the Tour de France, are systematically accused of doping even without substance behind it, says Martin.

Kenny Elissondeanother top French cyclist, expresses the same view in an interview with RMC.

– If you are injured and can not perform in our sport, then you rest a bit and come back to the next competition. Our generation of cyclists has learned the profession that way, he says.

The rules in cycling have come about as a reaction to a culture where both doping and drugs in the gray zone were widespread.

– It is good that the rules exist, because when you open the door for things like this, that is when it starts to go downhill. It is a gray zone, and when you get in there it is not good, says Kenny Elissonde.

– Previous generations took advantage of these things, it was part of the profession, that’s how it worked, says Kenny Elissonde.

He believes that there are now double standards between sports.

– I also do not think it is so good for him (Nadal) to do it, he says.

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