1. Back in the late 1940s/early 1950s, a reporter asked the great Fausto Coppi if riders dope. Coppi responded, "Only when necessary." The reporter followed up with, "How often is that?" Coppi said, "All the time."
2. One of the two notorious "trainers/coaches" of the 1990s, Luigi Cecchini, supposedly said this when asked what it takes to be a professional cyclist in Europe: "First, you have to get really, really skinny. Second, you need a lot of rest/sleep. Third, you must dope. The last is regrettable, but nonetheless true."
I made my peace on this a while ago.
I think anyone who really trains hard has some understanding of what an undertaking it is to ride a grand tour. It's horrific. Undoped, the hematocrit levels of riders plummet. That's just in one grand tour. Many of these guys with ride the Giro and then the Tour, or ride the Tour and then the Vuelta. Each within weeks of each other. It isn't possible to do, in my humble opinion, without chemical assistance.
I still rank Eddy number one all time, but Pogacar is approaching his status.