An electric motor was found in the bike of a famous athlete at the cycling championship

Nowadays, technologies are developing very quickly, many elements and nodes are reduced in size. Devices are improving, while progress has now reached sports. And this is not always good, because some athletes use the fruits of progress to improve their results, and moreover, illegal.

One of the most striking examples is the recent discovery of an electric motor in the bike frame of the famous Belgian athlete Femke Van Den Drische. “Technodoping” was discovered quite by accident when the Belgian retired for technical reasons. Before the start of the competition, Femke was considered a favorite.

Analysis showedthat in the frame of the bike there is a hidden motor. According to experts, it was used to improve the results of a cyclist. At the same time, the father of the cyclist claims that the bike is not her, but her friend. They seem to have the same vehicles, and the young man left his bike next to the athlete’s truck. The technician decided that this was her bike, and prepared him for the competition.


Photo from the website of the company involved in the creation of “mechanical doping” for cyclists

Rumors have been circulating about “mechanical doping” among cyclists for several years, but this is the first case of a real problem being discovered in a real bike by a famous athlete.

The organizers of the competition claim that when testing the bike a new method was used, the details of which were not disclosed. The violation itself received the official term “technological fraud”, the minimum penalty here is a 6-month suspension and a fine of 20 to 200 thousand Swiss francs (from about 17 to 170 thousand euros).


Photo from the site of the company engaged in the creation of "mechanical doping" for cyclists

Rumors of technological doping have been circulating among cyclists since 2010, when the athlete Fabian Cancellara was accused of “technological fraud”. Then one of the technical experts claimed that a small electric motor with a power of 60 to 100 watts works in the athlete’s bicycle. Despite the fact that the motor is low-power, this helped the cyclist to improve work efficiency.

Subsequently, the organizers of world-class cycling champions began to randomly inspect bicycles using a scanner and a small camera.

By the way, companies that create bikes with hidden electric motors work completely openly. Here is one of them . The solutions are very expensive, but professional athletes usually do not save on equipment.