A brief history of motor doping in cycling, from the pro peloton to amateur hill climbs

During the Vuelta a España Jumbo-Visma rubbished concerns about Sepp Kuss' success after former pro rider Jérôme Pineau made the eyebrow-raising claim that the team is motor doping

by DAN ALEXANDER
UPDATED MON, SEP 18, 2023 17:23

Ah, motor doping. Cycling's most 21st century form of cheating was put back
in the spotlight during the Vuelta a España after retired pro Jérôme Pineau made headlines by claiming Jumbo-Visma's success, notably Sepp Kuss'
Tourmalet performance, was a result of nefarious mechanical means.

Pineau — who rode for Quick-Step for five seasons and won a Giro d'Italia stage during his 16-year professional career, and has since been criticised
for his own behaviour as a team boss — claimed Kuss easily dispatched top riders "who are not losers" and had ridden away at the 2022 Tour de France
"for ten seconds without pedalling".

"We see the images… I'm not talking about doping, but about something much worse. Mechanical doping? Yes, mechanical," he said on a French podcast,
the unevidenced accusations quickly shut down and rubbished by the Dutch
team and many within the cycling world.

Mechanical doping, motor doping — whatever you want to call it is, of
course, nothing new, with whispers dating back to the noughties of pro
riders finding not-so-legal ways to make their machines faster.

The advance of e-bike technology has only heightened suspicion and the UCI
now regularly tests for hidden motors alongside tests for more
conventional, pharmaceutical, forms of cheating.

In fact, all 997 Tour de France tests came back negative at this year's
edition of the race, leading the UCI to confidently assert it is
"impossible" to get away with a hidden motor.

In the never-ending hunt for those tempted to cheat, a UCI Technical Commissaire patrolled the team paddock to test bikes using magnetic tablets before stages, with post-stage backscatter or transmission X-ray tests also carried out on the stage winner's bikes, the yellow jersey rider, as well
as the six other riders required to go for an anti-doping test, "selected
at random or who might give rise to suspicion".

But who's actually been caught?

Former Belgian cyclocross rider Femke Van den Driessche remains the biggest name, and only top-tier professional, to be caught mechanically doping. In 2016, the UCI banned her for six years and handed out a 20,000 Swiss Francs fine following the discovery of a concealed motor in a bike prepared for
her at the World Championships in Zolder.

The UCI confirmed the motor concerned was a Vivax, operated by a Bluetooth switch concealed under the bar tape, detected using magnetic resonance
testing technology deployed for the first time that year.

Van den Driessche claimed the bike was a friend's and had been prepared for
her in error, but ultimately chose not to defend herself at the subsequent disciplinary hearing and was stripped of her U23 national and European
titles.

No other top-level rider may have been caught, but that hasn't stopped the whispers, gossip and accusations wildly spreading over the internet, a sure-fire social media favourite every time there is a crash and a rider's
rear wheel keeps spinning...

Fresh 'motor doping' claims surround Ryder Hesjedal at the Vuelta — does
he have an engine tucked into his bike frame? Clue: no.

And it's not just Jumbo who've fallen foul of suspicion. At the 2014 Vuelta
it was Ryder Hesjedal on the receiving end. The Canadian laughed of the accusations as "ridiculous", while our video editor Liam explained why the
2012 Giro winner is almost certainly right. In short, don't spout online
every time you see a crashed rider's wheel spinning.

But it wouldn't be a 'motor doping conspiracy' without a mention of
Spartacus himself — Fabian Cancellara. Are there any cold, hard facts
behind accusations the Swiss powerhouse used a motor to propel his
legendary attacks? Absolutely not. Has that stopped some, including ex-pro
Phil Gaimon, accusing him? You bet it hasn't...

Cancellara has always strenuously denied the accusations, notably from some sections of the Belgian cycling community after his famous Tom
Boonen-toppling attack on the Muur at Flanders in 2010, but as we said,
there is no evidence, just internet whispers.

<https://road.cc/content/feature/brief-history-motor-doping-cycling-295849>

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