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Edited Date/Time
4/26/2016 8:46am
After much speculation on the subject, the day has come: a professional rider has been found in possession of a bike subjected to "motorized doping", i.e. featuring a concealed motor in the frame. The incident occurred at yesterday's Cyclocross World Championships, where 19-year old Femke Van den Driessche's bike was discovered with cables coming out of the seat tube and a motor concealed in the BB area.
Femke Van Den Driessche (Belgium) winning the women's U23 European championship (Bettini)
Speaking at a news conference today, UCI boss Brian Cookson said “It is no secret that a motor was found, we believe that it was indeed technological doping. Throughout the 2015 season, we carried out unannounced bike checks at major road events and we will conduct similar controls throughout the 2016 season, we have introduced in 2015 a set of Regulations that enables us to take action, and we’ve been trialling new methods of detection but you’ll understand why I don’t want to go into details of those methods."
The rider accused is denying any wrongdoing, as reported today on Cyclingnews:
"I didn’t know anything about it. I don’t know how that bike got there. I was surprised to see that bike standing there. It’s not my bike. There’s been a mistake,” she told the Belgian broadcaster Sporza. “There was nothing in the bike that I used at the start of the race. I train hard for it too, you know. Then it’s no fun to be accused like this.
“If I would’ve been on a bike like that I would’ve been more consistent. I’ve always peaked towards those moments. I worked really hard for it. I haven’t got anything to say about it but it’s really terrible.”
Van den Driessche offered up a potential reason for the bike’s presence, saying that it was owned by someone she’d been training with. “That bike belongs to a friend of mine,” she said. “He trains along with us. He joined my brothers and my father. That friend joined my brother at the reconnaissance and he placed the bike against the truck but it’s identical to mine. Last year he bought it from me. My mechanics have cleaned the bike and put it in the truck. They must’ve thought that it was my bike. I don’t know how it happened.”
The UCI reportedly implemented a new scanning technology to detect this kind of cheating at this very race. If the first race they try it at reveals a cheater, what does that say for racing in general? Could motors already have been used in MTB races? In light of the history of doping and cheating, it would be foolish to assume not...
Femke now faces a suspension of minimum 6 months and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 Swiss Francs (approximately the same amount in USD). We'll monitor the story further as it develops.
How do you not sense it working? (if it was? article doesnt state that..)
How do you as a Pro biker dont notice increased weight?
I doubt her's friend has bike with identical setup to extend she doesnt notice.
how pathetic...
The UCI seems to pay a lot less attention to mountain biking, as do the media. So I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be more prevalent than the roadies. Especially DH.
I remember a few years back when Cancellara was accused of having a motor in his bike. They can't juice as easily as before so they go for the mechanical advantage?
"Meanwhile Van den Driessche’s father has, predictably, insisted upon her innocence. [...] His words will likely be viewed with some scepticism, as her brother is currently serving a ban for EPO."
(source)
Not sure I trust Dad's defense after reading that. Also, the "friend's bike" story doesn't make sense. It's gotten more elaborate as the days go on, but I still don't believe that both a racer and her mechanic wouldn't know whose bike was in her pit during the most prestigious race of the entire year.
Re: Hesjedal's bike, there are a few videos out there showing that the momentum of the still-turning rear wheel alone is enough to spin a bike like that.
Honestly, I have no idea. I just get the impression that dh is pretty well ignored by the UCI. I don't see the UCI scanning dh bikes at world's like this CX race. That's mostly where my comment came from, that the oversight seems much more lax at dh.
I can see advantages in dh for the system. Getting up to speed out of the start gate or exiting a tight corner. Every 10th counts.
I'm going to take a wild guess and say Dad is a 'you better win child or you're a failure' type of person!
The mindset to cheat like these 2 have doesn't just happen overnight.
Not saying Gwin is cheating, I don't get that 'win at all cost' attitude from him but just because someone is winning and we want them or their talent to be legit, doesn't guarantee it is.
I wasn't suggesting gwin and ratboy are cheating. I don't think they are. I don't want to think anyone is, but that would be naive. I was merely trying to say that if you wanted to be sceptical you could think that winning a race without a chain on a pedal previously pedal friendly track could be used to suggest something foul.
My thoughts about dh (and now I think about it, ews since they aren't even in the UCI) were just that, because it seems to receive less scrutiny and less money to pay for that scrutiny, there might be more fishy business going on than we would like to acknowledge. Especially given the lax technical regs compared to road cycling.
I could easily be way off base, and I hope I am. I have no proof. I've not been to a world cup so I don't know what the UCI environment is like. It's just a hunch.
I have also shown many people the video (some of which have a fairly strong background in physics) and 9/10 times they are CERTAIN the bike is rigged.
So .... how efficient is a motor small enough to fit inside a BB anyway?? I might get one for my XC bike if it is a significant boost, but I suspect she probably got a
( crazy blog won't let me edit my post for some reason)
BTW there is no way in hell that a mechanic would allow that bike in the pits. There is also no way that they would not notice it. The system adds several pounds of weight to the bike.
If you're like me, that's hardly any less than my own body's performance stats during winter. To almost double that...
See here: http://cyclingtips.com/2015/07/hidden-motor-demonstration-with-greg-lem…
The swapping of bikes in CX may mean that some sort of system of not letting bikes in or out of the pits during the race and then officials grabbing those bikes as well.
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