Gianetti\u2019s own racing career included a notorious medical incident at the 1998 Tour de Romandie, where he collapsed and was hospitalised after the suspected use of an experimental oxygen-carrying substance. No anti-doping violation was ever proven, and no sanction followed, but the episode became part of cycling\u2019s collective memory.<\/p>\n
As a team manager, Gianetti later led squads such as Saunier Duval during periods when riders including Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli tested positive for blood-boosting agents. Again, Gianetti himself was never sanctioned, but the team\u2019s collapse during the 2008 Tour de France left a lasting imprint on how his management career is viewed.<\/p>\n
Matxin\u2019s background overlaps with that same period. He served in sporting leadership roles on teams that were later engulfed by doping scandals, without ever being personally charged or sanctioned. His name persists in these discussions not because of proven wrongdoing, but because of proximity to some of cycling\u2019s darkest chapters.<\/p>\n
This history, Zonneveld argues, explains why UAE\u2019s present-day success is filtered through a different lens than that of many rivals.<\/p>\n
![\"Joxean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/joxeanmatxin-6835f4d78cc33.jpg@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n
UAE’s Matxin is one of those “two guys at the top” referenced by Zonneveld<\/p>\n
Scrutiny is not accusation<\/p>\n
Crucially, Zonneveld draws a firm line between suspicion and evidence. \u201cYou have to look at what evidence there is,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is zero. Yes, they ride fast, but that is not proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
That distinction is the fulcrum of his argument. The past may explain why questions are asked, but it does not provide answers about the present.<\/p>\n
In other words, UAE\u2019s dominance triggers scrutiny because cycling has been here before. But repetition of the question does not equate to confirmation of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Structural power, not clandestine advantage<\/p>\n
If not doping, then what explains the scale of UAE\u2019s superiority? Zonneveld points not to physiology, but to structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire WorldTour peloton wanted Isaac Del Toro and Jan Christen, but both chose the same team,\u201d he said. \u201cThat obviously has to do with money.\u201d<\/p>\n
In modern cycling, financial power translates directly into depth. Depth becomes control. Control becomes sustained dominance. UAE\u2019s ability to sign multiple elite talents simultaneously has allowed them to build a system that overwhelms rivals across different terrains and race types.<\/p>\n
From the outside, that kind of advantage can appear unnatural. From inside the sport, it is increasingly familiar.<\/p>\n