"Tadej Pogačar doesn't need help from a TV moto, he's already fast enough and already wins enough…"

Before the start of Il Lombardia, the frustrations of a respected sports director were clear when they spoke to Cyclingnews, and not just because Pogačar had won the Tre Valli Varesine with a downhill attack and a little 'help' from a TV motorbike and because he was about to win a fifth consecutive Lombardia. The 2025 season was coming to an end, but the impact of television and race motorbikes affecting the outcome of major races is still a major problem.

"TV motorbikes have a big impact on race outcomes. We must do something about this, both for fairness and for safety," Adam Hansen, the president of the CPA riders association tells Cyclingnews, when discussing the wider issue.

"It's something we talk about in the peloton all the time," a rider, who preferred not to be named, says.

Pogačar didn't do anything illegal at Tre Valli Varesine; he just attacked off the front when the motorbike was close to him, dived into the slipstream on a fast downhill section and never looked back.

Angry waving from Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) and a chase by Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) were too little and too late. Pogačar got a gap, took advantage of a few more moments of motorbike slipstreaming and was never seen again.

It wasn't the first moment of apparent race interference and surely won't be the last.

Simmons missed a chance of a result at Tre Valli Varesine, but another rider suggested he perhaps got a slipstream benefit during his long breakaway at Il Lombardia. On the flip side, the American missed out on success on stage 15 of the Tour de France to Carcassonne after Tim Wellens got the jump on him and other riders in the break.

"It was about the strongest guy and the best moment with the moto," Simmons claimed after that stage in July.

"If you're the lucky one and get away, you get this advantage and there's no chance for the group behind. It's not given for free, you still have to be super strong, but it [the motorbike] is definitely a factor."

"I don’t think the moto played a part in my victory. I hope not," Wellens replied. "But if it were the case, Quinn could also have attacked first and taken the help of the moto…"

A grey area, or even a dark art in racing

Slipstreaming and in-race vehicle help have long been a contentious issue in pro cycling, as long as the sport has existed. Sticky bottles are now frowned upon, but many riders still believe it's fine to sit in team car slipstreams when you're chasing back onto the peloton, especially after a crash or mechanical problem. Using a TV motorbike slipstream is just one of the dark arts of professional cycling and one of the grey areas in the UCI rule book, which leaves room for explanation.

"It's part of the game," one rider tells Cyclingnews.

"It does have a big impact. Aerodynamics is such a huge part of cycling now. If you get the TV moto slipstream when you attack, you can go so much faster. Even just for a few seconds can help you get a decisive gap."

"It's the riders' nature to do everything they can to save energy," Hansen says.

"Energy efficiency wins races and riders will try to find any edge to save energy, be that an aero position, fast wheels, a skinsuit or a motorbike in front of the offering a slipstream. It's not the riders' fault. It's the moto that should not be in front of the riders."

Until the late nineties, on the Poggio in the final kilometres of Milan-San Remo, a pack of television and photographer motorbikes used to sit waiting to capture the moment. Teams and riders knew that the first to attack could get dragged away by the massive motorbike slipstream.

Now, race organisers only allow a so-called 'pool' process, of one television camera and one photographer ahead of the riders during key moments of a race, or sometimes not even that. The television motorbike is no longer allowed to shoot the attacks on the final part of the Poggio, and fixed television cameras and helicopter shots are used on major climbs in other races, even if that reduces the quality of the television footage.

However, the problem of slipstreaming remains an issue in other race situations, especially during long breakaway attacks and peloton chases, especially in stage races. Live television coverage has also been extended for the biggest races, with TV motorbikes capturing the action all day long, from start to finish of races, rather than just the last 90 minutes

"When you're in the middle of the peloton, you can feel when the TV moto is close to the front because the speed goes up like crazy. In the middle of the bunch, you don't get anything like the same draft," a rider tells Cyclingnews.

The same rider recalled how a rival attacked him in a breakaway using a motorbike slipstream out of a corner and stayed away to win the race, while on another occasion, a TV motorbike was so close to a break that it helped them stay away from the chasing peloton.

A source, who preferred not to be identified, claimed that a television motorbike had a huge impact during a stage of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana, slipstreaming a major breakaway that included several GC contenders for several hours. Team Sky tried to lead the chase of the peloton but eventually blew up. Half the peloton finished outside the time limit, with the Sky riders, but the race commissaries extended the time limit to allow them to stay in the race.

Quantifying the slipstream advantage

The advantages of a TV motorbike slipstream have been scientifically quantified.

In 2020, Belgian researcher Bert Blocken and several colleagues at the Eindhoven University analysed and calculated the aerodynamic benefits of drafting behind a bulky TV motorbike equipped with a camera and the data transmission equipment. They carried out simulations in the wind tunnel and made Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations, publishing their results in the Sports Engineering journal.

"For drafting distances of 2.64, 10, 30 and 50m, the drag reductions were 48, 23, 12 and 7%, respectively. The associated time gains were 12.7, 5.4, 2.7 and 1.6 seconds per km," Blocken made clear in his research conclusions.

"Because cycling races are sometimes won by a few seconds or less, these time gains can influence the outcome of the races. Therefore, the common concern in the cycling community that drafting behind motorcycles can influence the outcome of races is correct."

Renaat Schotte is one of the most respected television journalists in professional cycling. He works for Sporza in Belgium and spends hundreds of hours a year commentating on races and reports on the biggest Belgian classics from a Sporza motorbike. He sees the racing in three dimensions from the motorbike; he is inside the race convoy and feels how the wind impacts and changes the racing.

Schotte respects Blocken's research but thinks the real impact on races is exaggerated.

"It's easy to calculate the theoretical advantage of a motorbike slipstream in the wind tunnel, but it's then different out on the open road," Schotte suggests to Cyclingnews.

"A cross or tail wind changes everything in a race, but a lot of people don't see that. Out on the road is not like a wind tunnel; it's real, three-dimensional and is always changing.

"I think the effect of a TV motorbike is more of a placebo effect in the riders' minds. You can see that when you follow a time trial and the sports director shouts at a rider to follow a motorbike. They do it, but often the motorbike is too far ahead to make a difference."

The UCI is aware of the problem of TV motorbikes and slipstreams, but struggles to control and regulate it. The UCI guidelines are not very detailed.

"A TV motorcycle at the front of the peloton moves in front of the riders while respecting a safety buffer and filming from ¾ [at an angle, not head on] in front of riders," the guidelines say.

"They must never interfere with the progress of the race nor allow riders to benefit from their slipstream, especially when the riders’ speed is high."

Cyclingnews reached out to the governing body for comment on the issue of motorbike slipstreaming, but we're yet to get a response.

The UCI and SafeR, the dedicated structure created by cycling's stakeholders to study and improve safety in races, implemented a yellow card system in 2025 to dissuade behaviour in the race convoy that could impact safety. A total of 270 yellow cards were issued this year. Many were for riders deviating from their line in sprints, but 39 yellow cards were issued to photo and TV motorbikes. Some were for slipstreaming, even if the exact information is scarce.

Riders and teams believe that the TV motorbikes in some races and some countries behave worse than others, offering more slipstreaming opportunities. There are even suspicions that a few may act maliciously.

"Sometimes it does seem very blatant and so people get suspicious that there's some kind of plot to get a certain winner or result," a rider tells Cyclingnews.

Another source reveals that riders have allegedly given gifts to motorbike pilots in the hope of getting some slipstream help when they attack.

Is there a solution?

Blocken calculated that TV motorbikes generally maintain a gap ahead of the riders of between 10 and 30 metres when they are shooting a breakaway or the peloton. When the gap is consistently less, the aerodynamic benefits for the riders become far greater. He suggests a minimum of 25 metres to greatly reduce the aerodynamic benefit.

"The current rules and guidelines of the International Cycling Union (UCI) do not prevent situations where drafting can occur. The rules and guidelines need to be adjusted to prevent these undesired aerodynamic benefits," he says in his research conclusions.

Most motorbike pilots and the camera crews are experts and highly experienced at what they do. They also have UCI licences to operate in the race convoy and have completed UCI safety courses.

Of course, the TV motorbikes are expected to get the best shot possible, especially in key moments of a race, when the big-name riders are attacking. Everyone watching on television loves to see close-up race action, to see riders' faces as they suffer or distance a rival. The host broadcast director talks to the camera crews via radio, no doubt demanding the best close-up shots. It is a high-pressure situation, which can naturally lead to TV motorbikes going close to the riders to get the shot everyone wants to see.

Schotte explains the need for race motorbikes.

"I know that the whole debate about motorbikes in races can be controversial, but people in their armchairs watching on television don't often understand the importance of race motorbikes and especially TV motorbikes," he tells Cyclingnews.

"I have to defend the TV moto pilots, especially the Belgians, they're really good at what they do. That's not always the case in every country and even amongst the photographers motorbike pilots, but all the motorbike pilots are all human. Riders make mistakes and cause crashes, and moto pilots make mistakes too.

"Deliberately interfering is different and shouldn't happen and punishment has to follow, but there has to be trust between everyone in the race convey, we're all there for a reason."

The cases Cyclingnews has highlighted and the comments from riders, teams and Adam Hansen of the CPA confirm that there is a problem with TV motorbike slipstreaming. It is impacting races – in the eyes of everyone involved. Professional cycling has many other complex problems, but slipstreaming seems avoidable and should surely be resolved.

A solution could be to introduce and then enforce a minimum distance between the riders and the TV motorbikes and any other motorbikes that can provide a slipstream effect. It may impact the quality of the television coverage, but the racing would be fairer. Such a rule has already been introduced in time trials, where team cars have to stay a set distance behind the rider to reduce aerodynamic benefits.

One sports director suggested using the same experienced TV motorbike for all of the races and the best possible high-definition lenses with built-in image stabilisation technology. The VAR (video assistant referee) system could also be used more often to spot and punish TV motorbikes or anyone who gets too close to the riders, especially in parts of the race designated as strategic. Drones may one day replace the need for TV motorbikes, but this technology still needs more development and may create other safety issues.

A rider tells Cyclingnews of how endurance triathlon events, where drafting is illegal, use a sensor system to calculate drafting distances and then highlight them with a series of coloured lights on the device.

The Race Ranger pods are similar in size to the data devices used to transmit live rider data and use WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and UltraWideBand signals to calculate the drafting distance. They could be fitted to the TV motorbikes and other race convoy motorbikes. The measurements could be used to audibly warn the TV motorbikes if they get too close to riders, informing a race commissaire via the VAR system. The lights would indicate to riders if a TV motorbike is at a correct, non-slipstreaming distance.

A sports director suggests that the riders also have to play their part.

"My riders often lament about the TV motorbikes to me via our team radio and I often go to the race commissaire to complain about it," he tells Cyclingnews.

"I tell them to go to the front and wave away the TV motorbikes, but they don't like to be seen doing that. But they have to act and stand up for themselves because they are the ones who lose out if the racing isn't fair."

Adam Hansen believes a solution to the problem of TV motorbikes is needed as part of a wider strategy to improve race safety, even if it impacts the quality of the television footage.

"At SafeR the major discussion is about how to slow down the peloton because the speeds are getting faster and faster, but the TV motorbikes are one of the main factors for increased race speeds," Hansen argues.

"One of the SafeR deliverables for 2026 suggested by the CPA is ensuring the TV moto is further from the riders to make racing fairer. If the UCI really wants to lower the average race speed, we have to do something about the motorbikes influencing the racing."

After his second disqualification in five years from a road race for setups deemed illegal by the UCI, Dutch rider Jan-Willem van Schip says he is mulling over which direction to take his career, with participation in gravel races amongst his various options.

Already disqualified from the 2021 Baloise Belgium Tour for using handlebars deemed illegal by the UCI, earlier this week Van Schip found himself in the firing line of cycling's governing body again when he was disqualified from stage 1 of the Tour of Holland.

This time round, Van Schip was expelled because of an apparently illegal seatpost, a decision appealed by his team, Parkhotel Valkenburg.

"His seatpost allegedly does not meet UCI requirements," Parkhotel Valkenburg team manager Paul Tabak said in a statement to WielerFlits. "But he has been riding with one for several years and has documentation that it is permitted."

In photos shared to X, his seatpost is shown with a clear kink forwards, steepening the angle between his bottom bracket and his saddle and putting him in a much more forward position over the bike

Van Schip himself did not talk to the press after his expulsion, but he has now opted to make a lengthy post about it on social media. Whilst not criticising the UCI directly, he did make the point that "being rejected because you're chasing your dream hurts", that "Being the outcast that tackles things differently leads to gigantic unnecessary friction and that "The contrast of what you need to do to perform in cycling and what cycling culture encourages you [to do] cannot be greater."

As for where he goes from here, Van Schip, a former winner of the Ronde van Drenthe in Holland and stage of the Tour of Belgium, said he will be looking at a potential ride in gravel races, as well as on the track. Even a ride in gravel's best-known one-day event, Unbound, was not off his radar, he said.

"Six-Day Rotterdam (come and see! ), try gravel, do Unbound, does anyone have a gravel bike/team on offer?" he asked rhetorically.

Other career options, he said, were giving conferences - " Does anyone want a custom talk about dealing with pressure?"- coaching, and "Keeping supporting myself to keep trying and exploring."

The 31-year-old also thanked the public for what he said was support on the roadside in his cycling endeavours, saying "I am really thankful [...] that so many people on rainy Thursdays shouted - Go Willem. I keep feeling that people are worried about me and want me to be okay. That moves me."

Meanwhile the Tour of Holland continues, with Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) leading after three stages. The race is due to finish on Sunday in Arnhem.

The UCI rolled out its plan to detect and deter doping and technological fraud during the 2025 Tour de France, revealing that its independent testing organisation, the International Testing Agency (ITA) will be combining "data-driven" methods with its anti-doping controls to ensure a level playing field.

The UCI outsourced its doping controls to the ITA starting in 2021, with some of the federation's Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation employees moving across to a dedicated cycling unit. The ITA said it doubled the resources devoted to cycling last year, using "enhanced investigative powers" to lead data-driven investigations.

For the Tour de France, the ITA has increased its traditional urine and blood doping controls and analysis to detect performance-enhancing drugs directly. They will also be emphasizing longitudinal analysis (changes over time) by expanding the blood biological passport to include steroid and hormone levels to detect markers of abuse of difficult-to-detect substances such as human Growth Hormone (hGH).

The ITA is also adding longitudinal analysis of power data from the men's pro peloton as a way to "guide targeted testing and advanced laboratory analysis, prioritise investigations and refine its long-term sample storage".

During the Tour de France, ITA expects to collect upwards of 600 urine and blood samples, with 350 coming as out-of-competition tests before the Grand Depart in Lille on Saturday. They will also use data and intelligence to select samples to be retained for long-term storage and re-analysis during the allowed 10-year window. The ITA re-analysed 490 samples collected in 2015 and all came back negative.

Doping controls during the three-week Tour de France will automatically include the yellow jersey wearer and stage winner each day, but will also include pre-race controls and random testing outside of the usual post-stage period.

"The Tour de France is not only one of the most iconic events in sport, it is also a key moment for protecting the integrity of cycling," ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen said.

"Our approach in 2025 reflects a continued commitment to intelligent, data-driven anti-doping strategies grounded in science, collaboration and continuous improvement.

"By combining targeted testing with advanced analytical tools such as the endocrine module, long-term sample storage and performance monitoring initiatives, we aim to ensure that this prestigious race is contested on a level playing field. We are proud to lead these efforts on behalf of the UCI and in close coordination with all our trusted partners."

Drugs aren't the only concern when it comes to rooting out cheaters. The UCI will increase its targeted checks for technological fraud by 17% compared to the 192 X-ray checks performed at the 2024 Tour de France, carrying out pre-stage checks using magnetic tablets and other methods.

The UCI will also employ their Video Commissaire and in-race officials to look for "anything that arouses suspicion" to target further checks. They are also continuing their "Rewards Programme" which offers "incentives" for "actionable information and intelligence on technological fraud".

UCI Director General Amina Lanaya said: "The UCI once again has a comprehensive programme in place to fight against technological fraud at the Tour de France. It is important that everyone can be sure that the athletes' performances are due to their personal physical performance – not motors. Our responsibility is to stay ahead of any threat to the fairness of competition, and we continue to invest in robust detection systems and intelligence frameworks to ensure all riders and teams compete on equal terms."

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The UCI has revealed details of their latest techniques and strategy to detect and deter mechanical doping in cycling, with bikes now checked using a handheld backscatter x-ray device that can see what is hidden inside frames, wheels and any part of a bike.

Cyclingnews and a select group of other media were allowed into the protected anti-doping and technological fraud compound at the finish of stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia in Cesano Moderno to see how the UCI carry out their checks.  

The UCI appointed former US Homeland Security Investigator Nick Raudenski a year ago to lead the strategy for the fight against technological fraud. It was seen as a bold appointment by UCI president Davd Lappartient and perhaps a sign of the need to ensure hidden motors are not used to falsify results. Lappartient has admitted that a high-profile mechanical doping case would "destroy the sport."

Raudenski is using his experience investigating match-fixing and corruption for FIFA and UEFA, and more recent work as Head of Intelligence & Investigations at the anti-doping International Testing Agency, to combine bike checks with intelligence and whistleblowing.

"We're in a technological arms race," Raudenski admitted to Cyclingnews in an interview after the backscatter x-ray device presentation.  

"Components are getting lighter and smaller and so easier to conceal and harder to detect. We're up against the challenge of trying to stay out in front or at least not so far behind in the cat and mouse game of what is the new way that people could potentially try to cheat."  

It is not only equipment. Raudenski, like many people, is often suspicious of riders' performances in certain races. It sparks the natural investigator in him.    

"It's about looking at the overall picture, watching how performances happen, watching biomechanical behaviour, watching how riders are acting and how they react to us when we do a bike check," he explained.

"Most are actually happy and thank us because they want to be sure they're not riding against somebody that is trying to cheat."

Cyclocross rider Femke Van den Driessche remains the only athlete ever to be caught and sanctioned for motor doping back in 2016.

British journalist Chris Marshall Bell has investigated mechanical doping a length for his Ghost in the Machine podcast and also written about motor doping for Cyclingnews on the subject. There are suspicions that hidden motors and even magnetic devices in wheels may have been used in major professional races, as far back as 1999, but no cases have ever been irrefutably proven or a disciplinary process opened.

"I and my team challenge ourselves to ask where we are at now and why we aren't finding anything," Raudenski said.

"We question if our tools are up to date, is the process right, is there new technology out there or new components that we are not seeing. It's a continued evolution to make our test and technology better. To make sure we're not missing something."

Inside the UCI  technological fraud tent

The UCI has bike inspector technicians and the backscatter x-ray device at a number of major cycling and mountain bike races, to check bikes and create a strong sense of deterrence.

The UCI has three of the devices, which cost €45,000 each, with a considerable budget allocated to what the UCI prefers to call 'technological fraud' rather than mechanical doping.

Based on specific information and intelligence, suspicions or just a randomly selected process, riders are stopped beyond the finish line, a special red UCI tag is attached to their frame, and then taken to the anti-doping area for inspection. Riders who are selected for anti-doping testing usually face a bike check alongside random and targeted tests.  

The UCI still uses the tablet device to check bikes at race starts, despite doubts about its ability to detect magnetic activity. They now combine that with between seven and 15 backscatter x-ray checks per day.  

In the black UCI tent in the protected Giro d'Italia anti-doping compound, Cyclingnews saw how the UCI technicians weigh the bikes to detect any extra hidden equipment and then slowly scan the bike with the backscatter x-ray device.

The screen captures an X-ray image and clearly shows' inside the frame and wheels. The technicians are trained and experienced in differentiating between the batteries and wires of electronic gear systems and any hidden devices.

"We can see everything and every aspect, and we can look at specific areas and zoom in on details to highlight certain things," Raudenski said, insisting the process and technology are robust.

Riders and team staff are allowed to watch the process and then sign an official document saying the bike was checked on a specific day and time. The UCI keeps records of bikes tested and cross-checks that with bikes and frames registered with the UCI.  

When David Lappartient was elected as UCI president in 2017, he said he didn't want technological fraud to continue as 'a hot topic' and he personally presented a mobile X-ray cabinet in 2018.

The use of the backscatter x-ray device is the latest step in the 'technological arms race.'

Cyclingnews has seen Raudenski at major race finishes as he supervises the bike check process. He keeps a low profile, but most teams already know who is and the vital work he does.

At recent Giro d'Italia stage finishes, Cyclingnews saw Raudenski point a handheld device, perhaps a heat gun of some kind, at riders' bikes slowing beyond the finish line. However, he refused to comment on the device or other technologies he and the UCI may use in the future.

The UCI are also apparently considering the use of power and cadence data, combined with AI, to produce a rider's "power passport" similar to the Athlete Biological Passport that is used to fight blood doping after the EPO era.

Raudenski admits that the UCI's work is mostly about acting as a deterrent. However, he is not afraid to investigate previous suspicious performances and equipment. They will be hard to prove but could help in the future to understand mechanical doping.    

"People understand that if I cross the finish line with a motor on my bike, there's a high probability that there's going to be a check. So there is a deterrent effect," Raudenski said.

"We're making sure that we have robust processes, that our legal frameworks and the regulations are up to date, that the equipment regulations are up to date, and that we're staying ahead of what can and what can't be used."

Last September, the UCI launched a specific mechanical doping whistleblower rewards programme, saying that information to help target testing and investigations would be “facilitated through financial motivation, assistance, and/or reward for information".

Raudenski sees and studies all the rumours about hidden motors but focuses on the facts.

"Do I wake up sweating in the middle of the night, fearing that I'm missing something? Not at the moment," he told Cyclingnews.

"You have to separate fact from fiction, evidence from rumours. That's where I spend the majority of my time.

"It's not about what I think. It's about what I can prove. I'm driven by evidence, by things that I feel we take tangible actions on.

"Of course, we're not blind, we're not deaf to rumours and allegations that have happened in the past. I'm not shying away from  anything that I feel is going to continue to promote the credibility of cycling."

At the recent WorldTour seminar in Nice, cycling’s biggest stakeholders sat through a presentation on the ongoing threat of technological fraud. At one point, the former Homeland criminal investigator Nick Raudenski turned to a screen where a carefully curated video depicted how the UCI is tackling the risk of concealed motors in bikes. 

UCI technicians were shown inserting a camera inside the frame of Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo at the Tour de France; Lotto Dstny’s Victor Campenaerts was shown watching an inspection of his own bike; and then Raudenski delivered a line that was intended to remind those watching that though not one single rider has been found with a hidden motor in their bike at a professional race since 2016, the danger remains as real as ever. 

"We’ve come across a lot of allegations, a lot of beliefs, a lot of suspicions, and a lot of suspicious performances," said Raudenski, who has headed up the UCI’s fight against technological fraud team since May. "I don’t think anything is impossible. I think we always have to be awake to what potentially could happen."

Raudenski’s speech, sources present at the seminar told Cyclingnews, was met largely with a shrug of the shoulders. While there is widespread acceptance that motors were present in the peloton in the early 2010s, there have been few rumours or allegations about the practice since the Belgian cyclocross rider Femke van den Driessche was caught in 2016, and there is therefore deep scepticism that motor doping may be happening today. 

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But the UCI are insistent that they must continue to pour resources into combatting the possibility of sophisticated hidden technology in bikes. Because if they don’t, according to the UCI’s president, David Lappartient, someone will definitely cheat. "I believe that if we do nothing, this will happen," the Frenchman told the Ghost in the Machine podcast in the summer.

"We can’t be an organisation that says: ‘ok, this doesn’t exist and we won’t spend a lot of energy on this’. I believe with new technologies, with engines becoming smaller and smaller [and] maybe less easy to detect, we have to invest more in the technology and also in investigations.

Staying one step ahead

The UCI first developed a specific test for concealed motors in early 2016: a magnetic scanner attached to an iPad. On its very first outing, it located the Vivax Assist motor hidden in Van den Driessche’s spare cyclocross bike. Nearly a decade on, the scanner remains the UCI’s most-used prevention method, with around 30-40 bikes tested every day at WorldTour, World Championships and Olympic races.

Despite its speediness and omnipresence around team paddocks, the tablet has regularly been accused of not being able to detect all types of motors, or distinguish between a concealed motor designed to propel the drivetrain and a battery for electronic shifting. Even Lappartient himself expressed concerns about the magnetic scanner to the Ghost in the Machine podcast. "You can cheat even with a tablet," he said. "I don’t trust that the tablets are strong enough to fight against technological fraud. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not consistent enough."

The UCI also has a €600,000 x-ray machine which typically tests around eight bikes per day at the biggest races, including the stage winner and race leader, as well as a €45,000 handheld backscatter device which can deliver x-ray and density images. If anything that appears untoward is undiscovered, then the bike can be dismantled and inspected. The governing body has previously trialled but dismissed thermal imaging cameras.

As part of Raudenski’s remit, he has been tasked with researching new potential detection methods to go alongside the current trio of systems. "We have to stay in advance of how much is being developed, and so we have to make sure that we’re keeping pace with that innovation," the American added in the video shown at the seminar.

Cyclingnews understands that private enterprises unaffiliated with the UCI are also working on new detection methods, with the issue having made it to the attention of senior European politicians. Using power and cadence data to produce a ‘power passport’ similar to the Athlete Biological Passport has previously been mooted by some, as well as embracing artificial intelligence. "We have to investigate in which way AI can help us," Lappartient said in the summer.

Electromagnetism and 'special wheels'

A motor inside a professional’s bike today wouldn’t be anything like those inside commercially available e-bikes: they’d be much smaller and nimble, capable of producing between 20 and 50 watts, enough power to produce a race-winning attack, but not so extravagant to immediately arouse suspicion.

The big question everyone has is how even tiny motors and batteries could be concealed inside a bike’s frame, a rear hub or inside the wheels and still evade detection, especially an X-ray scan. Could they be camouflaged inside the Shimano Di2 batteries, for instance? "If you’re using a good quality battery that can reach 30 to 35 watts, you can hide it," Stefano Varjas, the most notorious and controversial producer of concealed motors, told Cyclingnews recently. "But you can’t hide the engine: you need manual contact on the drivetrain somewhere."

The Hungarian, who once said that he received $2m from an unnamed leading Tour de France team in 1998 for exclusive rights to his motors, added that "with money anything is possible – the only limit is budget." Though most have dismissed his boasts as fantasy and self-publication, Varjas has famously claimed to produce electromagnetic wheels that cannot be detected with any scanner; he says the permanent magnets hidden around the wheel are only detectable when in use. "Once the wheel stops, there is no proof," he said. "A hub system isn’t difficult to detect, but an electromagnetic wheel is much more difficult." He has previously said that such an innovation, if even possible, is "considered as a real tool for enhancing the power of a racer."

Whether or not ‘special wheels’, as they have been dubbed, exist, there is concern at the UCI that wireless groupsets are vulnerable to being hacked, as was proven in the summer. The fear is that if gears can be altered remotely, small motors can also be activated externally. This would tie into the school of thought some have that, as outlandish as it seems, a rider wouldn’t even need to know that their bike was mechanically assisted.

Motor doping's underworld

A decade ago, just before the e-bike market boomed into a $50 billion business, there were a number of hidden motor producers across Europe, each subtly squeezing motors and batteries into road bikes for higher-end clients with a lot of disposable income.

Today, however, with the exception of Varjas and his E-powers brand, those same producers are no longer part of the electrical bike business – whether formally or informally. Vivax Assist, the company that made the type of motor that Van den Driessche had in her bike, closed down in 2020, and operations in Italy and Monaco have also closed. The rapid expansion of e-bikes has rendered their crafty and expensive work more or less redundant; rich clientele no longer need to fork out thousands on a modified bike with technological assistance when they could walk to their local bike shop and pick up a sophisticated and sleek design for much less.

That’s not to say, though, that there’s no one left in this niche space. "There are a lot, not one, two or five, more like 20," Varjas told Cyclingnews when asked how many competitors he has. "The world is very huge, and I think there are a lot of other producers," he told the Ghost in the Machine podcast earlier in the year. "If they have their own clients and if they want to hide, they don’t need advertising."

The common perception among those in the know is that while Varjas was probably at the cutting edge of this innovation a few decades ago, he no longer is. Identifying those who may now be the kingpins of the concealed motors business is a big part of Raudenski’s job. "I think the technology is out there," Raudenski said. "I think it exists, and I think if there is enough money to throw at a problem or at a situation then there is enough money to provide a solution that will likely not be so easy to detect."

Is the UCI chasing a red herring?

Snooping out the cheaters and the people behind them is very slow and drawn-out. It’s the same as trying to uncover proof of doping or a sportsperson match-fixing: they’re typically several steps ahead of comparatively underfunded governing bodies and institutions working to catch them.

It’s entirely plausible – and most in the sport think this is the case – that Raudenski and the UCI are chasing a red herring; the motor threat, largely because of the trio of prevention methods in place that act as a deterrent, has ceased to exist. But so grave is the possibility of someone committing technological fraud – Lappartient has said it would "destroy the sport" – that the UCI insists that maximum surveillance is required, hence the appointment of Raudenski.

"It’s why someone of my profile was brought in, that focus on intelligence and investigations," Raudenski said, a nod to the rewards scheme the UCI launched in September, designed to incentivise people with critical information to come forward. "Developing sources, finding new analytic means… working with people in the field, and also conducting those investigations robustly and swiftly. We’re not going to be testing everybody, but be much more focused and [test] based on specific information."

That last line is key. In 2023, an investigation by the RadioCycling podcast found that no bikes were tested for technological fraud in two of the three Giro d’Italia time trials, while neither the magnetic scanners nor X-ray machines were in use at several WorldTour races. Figures markedly improved in 2024, but the UCI admits that there are still flaws in its system, and fears that riders’ bikes can still avoid detection.

"I want to be sure that the bike that will be tested at the end is the bike that has been used," Lappartient said. "And it seems to be that the process is not 100% completely secure. When somebody wants to cheat they will always try to find the small details [like] where they can do this."

Bike changes, which have become increasingly more frequent since the universal adoption of disc brakes made wheel changes slower and more complicated, are highlighted by Lappartient. "I saw some videos on social media and sometimes you don’t know why at 10k to go they change their bike," he said. "Maybe there are some real reasons, but how can we be sure that they [UCI officials] will check the bike on the roof of the car and they will not change it or remove the bike? In addition to this, how can we ensure that some bikes and equipment that were not checked before [the race] can’t be used? All these kinds of things have to be secure, very high-level processes, and at the date of today I do not believe it is completely 100% secure."

Raudenski sides with his boss when it comes to maintaining a stance of perpetual vigilance. "If people are crazy enough to try it, and if we’re not there watching, not trying to deter and detect, then they are going to try it, and then the sport becomes a farce and you watch them riding up with motorbikes," he said. "There are two aspects: the deterrent aspect and the enforcement aspect when it happens."

As the 10th anniversary of Van den Driessche’s sanction approaches, success for the UCI today is deterring would-be motor dopers and strengthening what they admit is currently a fallible prevention system, rather than solely busting the cheats. "What we want to do is not to find some cheater but to ensure that nobody will cheat," Lappartient said. Van den Driessche might very possibly remain the only ever convicted motor doper.

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It’s one of cycling’s greatest mysteries – or conspiracies, depending on who or what you believe: have professional cycling races been won with concealed motors? 

The most high-profile accusations of motor-doping at some of the sport's biggest events happened between 2010 and 2014, in which you will be well-versed. They are among many unproven and strenuously denied allegations, but they are rumours that have only had their fans flamed by the fact that the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, didn’t have any specific tests in place to detect motors until January 2016 (save for the odd roll out of an x-ray machine and occasional dismantling of bikes), meaning riders could have had motorised assistance without fear of such cheating being uncovered.

But no one, except the young Belgian cyclocross rider Femke Van den Driessche in 2016 – coincidently or not, on the first day the UCI introduced a magnetic scanner that is still in use today – has ever been caught with a motor in their bike. 

For the past two years, I have been investigating technological fraud – or motor doping, as the topic is commonly referred to –  and in early 2024 I, alongside podcast company Stak, released Ghost in the Machine, a seven-part podcast documentary examining the issue. Among many things that I’ve learned, the most striking is that, though not everyone will admit it for fear of reproach, there is near-universal acceptance within the sport that motor doping was happening more widely pre-2016; Van den Driessche was not the only one – she was just the unlucky one to be caught. A scapegoat, some say.

Which begs the question: will we ever find out the ‘truth’ about past motor doping? And is the UCI, despite giving “carte blanche” to the American former criminal investigator Nick Raudenski, the man responsible for dealing with the threat since May, really willing to dig up the past and potentially unresolved trauma?

Hard evidence, hearsay, or both?

You’re probably wondering: what makes me so certain that motors were used in the past? Without conclusive evidence or whistleblowers' testimonies, surely I’m just another conspiracist. My conviction stems from the countless conversations I continue to have with people in the sport, allied to double- and triple-sourced anecdotes and videos shared with me which appear to point towards possible past motor doping. I don’t have a smoking gun, but I am in possession of a lot of circumstantial evidence, covering the late 1990s to as recently as the 2024 season.

And speak to anyone in the sport, and no one can confidently say that the whole thing is a big myth; to the contrary, in fact. “Motor in the bike was not a big thing, but there were more rumours in the past, like five, six, 10 years ago,” Tadej Pogačar told me last December, hinting at the period when suspicions were most prominent. In the mid-2010s that Pogačar referred to, Jean-Pierre Verdy, the founder of the French Anti-Doping Agency, famously said 12 riders had a motor in the 2015 Tour de France during an interview with US television show CBS '60 Minutes', while former Italian rider Davide Cassani claimed that some riders were using motors as far back as 2004. No evidence, however, has ever been forthcoming.

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At the time of Van den Driessche’s sanction in 2016, the president of the sport was Brian Cookson. “It’s hard to deny that there were some inexplicable things in certain performances,” the Englishman told me recently. “I don’t have any evidence to support anything that could be counted as solid proof… and the fact remains that no one has been caught other than the first case when we developed a method of testing that was practical enough to use regularly. But were there people before? It was less difficult [to get away with it] because there was no particular testing. But if there was some evidence, then we would have acted upon it at the time, and I’m reasonably confident my successor David Lappartient would do the same thing, and that’s why he has increased the tech fraud fight and brought in newer methods of detection.”

Cookson, who succeeded the Irishman Pat McQuaid in 2013, was ousted as the UCI’s president in 2017 largely because of the motor scandal, with Lappartient alleging that Cookson never took the matter seriously. Speaking to me in late May for the Ghost in the Machine podcast, I asked Lappartient if Van den Driessche was the only one to ever be brazen enough to ride with a motor. “The first time we really used these tablets we were able to catch somebody, [but] it doesn’t mean there weren’t other riders using these kinds of things,” the Frenchman said.

Upping the stakes as time runs out

In September, the UCI announced the introduction of a rewards programme, whereby people who provide the governing body with information about hidden propulsion methods could be given a financial or material reward in return. “This initiative aims to… encourage persons who would otherwise not voluntarily come forward and/or provide the UCI with critical information about technological fraud,” the governing body said in a statement. This form of incentivisation was the biggest public indicator yet of what multiple UCI sources have been telling me in the past few years: the organisation seriously believes that motors were and could still be afflicting the sport.

If evidence came to light of mechanical fraud from the early 2010s, or at any other point in the past few decades, what would Lappartient do? “If we have information about facts in the past, we will also investigate,” he said. “At a mass participation [amateur] level, it is sure that this has probably happened. At the highest level, I don’t know. I want to be an institution that knows whether it’s black or white, so my job is to focus on the future and also any information we have from the past we will take it [forward] also.”

While Raudenski was firmer on the point, adding: "In the fight against technological fraud, it is clear that we must navigate challenges from the past while progressing forward. We are concerned by each and every allegation of technological fraud and our position is firm, whether the cases are past or present, our mandate is to prove innocence, disprove allegations, and pursue further investigations when necessary, in order to guarantee the credibility and fairness of our sport."

Former staff in Cookson’s administration have told me that the only way to prosecute previous offenders is if a motor is literally found in a bike, and Cookson’s view is not so dissimilar. “You’re going to need very substantial evidence, otherwise they are going to deny it and it’ll be a case of hearsay,” he said. “If they can prove that someone paid someone, then maybe. As they say, follow the money, the paper trail, look for transfers and receipts. But for something clandestine, people will cover everything as much as they can, hide payments or deal in cash transfers.”

The most probable scenario is that a whistleblower emerges – and the rewards scheme was partly designed to encourage such people, should they exist. “If someone has a crisis of consciousness of what they did all those years ago, they might be ashamed of it and it’s weighing on their mind so much that they admit it,” Cookson added. “Would it ever happen? I doubt it, but I’ve been in pro cycling for many, many years and nothing would surprise me.”

In a statement to Cyclingnews, the UCI said of its rewards programme: “Although we cannot discuss specific cases, we can confirm that we continue to receive information through various channels, including the UCI’s SpeakUp platform and directly via TechFraud@uci.ch.”

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond has been one of the most outspoken voices on the topic, saying recently that “I truly believe motors were used to win a lot of big races.” He has used data, in particular power numbers and high cadence figures, to point towards possible motorised assistance. Though that doesn’t count as proof per se, it does classify as circumstantial evidence.

What could prove a sticking point for the UCI is its own rules. Article 12.4.003 of the UCI regulations states that “technological fraud is subject to a statute of limitation of 10 years from the date of the offence”, the result being that the UCI could not legally bring proceedings against riders/teams for an incident that happened a decade before; the same rule applies when it comes to biological doping cases. So in theory any cheating from the 2013 Tour de France can now not be pursued by the UCI.

“We’re not far off 10 years from 2016 when we introduced these regulations, so anything before then is difficult to prosecute, even if there are witnesses and evidence. I can’t see it being an easy process to sanction someone from the past,” Cookson said. Yet that doesn’t mean the UCI has to take a literal view of its own ruling: though the governing body is technically prohibited from prosecuting cases a decade or more older, it is not prohibited from investigating suspicions.

Optics, integrity, and 'the truth'

As Lappartient said on the podcast, “If we have a case of cheating with a motor in the bike, sorry but it will destroy our sport.” It’s therefore understandable to ask: Why should the UCI and I continue to chase this opinion-splitting topic? “If there is fraud and fixing, the damage could be very substantial, but I would never want to stop anyone investigating something they consider is wrongdoing that took place in our sport,” Cookson said. “We’ve had enough damage over the years to understand the sport needs to have integrity and be believable. But equally, there must come a time when a line should be drawn under that – and I guess that was what was intended by the 10 years statute of limitations.”

It might also be natural for people to assume that with Lappartient being one of seven candidates to become the next International Olympic Committee president in March, a role that would make him the biggest name in sports governance, he would be reluctant to bring a new stain on the sport he has led since 2017 for fear of it negatively affecting his own career aspirations.

But there is another way of looking at it: if the UCI uncovers proof of motor doping before Lappartient’s tenure began, he could claim that he is righting the wrongs of the past, thus seizing the moment to claim that sport, not just cycling, is safer, cleaner and fairer under his watch; the narrative he’d opt for is that he can be relied on to root out corruption and fraud, and that cheaters have nowhere to hide. Additionally, historical cases would be less damaging than current cases – and Lappartient, a media-savvy and career politician, would be aware of such optics. “The worst thing for the institution would be if we are informed of a case of technological fraud and we do nothing,” he said in the summer. “Then of course it will completely not only destroy cycling but the institution itself.”

The message, if you dig beneath the layers and the corporate speak, is actually quite unambiguous: the UCI, led by the well-respected Raudenski, is willing to go after past offenders of motor doping if it has enough evidence, and the information-for-rewards scheme points towards an increased focus on bringing possible past offenders to justice. But Cookson speaks for everyone when he assesses the probability of a smoking gun ever being found. “Whether you or anyone else ever discovers the ‘truth’ about the notorious allegations, I don’t know,” he said. Perhaps we’ll never know. Perhaps motor doping will always remain a mystery, a literal ghost in the machine.

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The UCI has announced that it will offer financial incentives in a bid to encourage whistleblowers to provide information on the use of motors in cycling.

The governing body outlined the details of its ‘rewards programme’ for information on technological fraud on Friday after the scheme was ratified by the UCI Management Committee at the Road World Championships in Zürich this week.

“The aim of the programme will be to encourage people with information on this subject to share it – confidentially – with the UCI in exchange for a financial reward,” the UCI said.

A whistleblowing programme with possible financial rewards was previously initiated across all sports by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016. This new UCI policy, specific to technological fraud in cycling, was outlined in a document published on Friday, which stated that information to help target testing and investigations would be “facilitated through financial motivation, assistance, and/or reward for information".

The rewards programme will be open to informants, whistleblowers and sources “who provide actionable information on technological fraud in cycling voluntarily and in good faith". 

The UCI outlined three levels of compensation for informants – material assistance, financial assistance and monetary award.

The document did not specify the level of financial remuneration that would be offered for information, but it stated that the confidential disbursements “may include monetary payments or value-in-kind (VIK) rewards, such as items or access to events".

No more professional riders at under-23 Worlds

The UCI Management Committee meeting also brought formal confirmation that riders contracted to professional teams (at WorldTour and ProTeam level) will no longer be permitted to race in the under-23 category at World and Continental Championships after this season.

Riders registered with WorldTour and ProTeam development squads will still be allowed to race in the under-23 category. 

“As far as the UCI Worlds are concerned, this decision will apply for the first time at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali (Rwanda),” the UCI said.

Elsewhere, Milan-San Remo Women has been formally added to the UCI calendar for 2025, with the race set to take place on March 22, the same day as the men’s event. The Trofeo Binda is set to move a week earlier in the calendar, to Sunday, March 16.

The dates of the 2026 Gravel World Championships in Nannup, Australia have been shifted by a week to October 10-11, while the hosts of a number of future World Championships in various disciplines are set to be announced following Friday’s UCI Congress.

The UCI Management Committee also stated that it has “strengthened” the selection criteria for WorldTour events for the period 2026-2028, when the calendar is due to be reformed.

“Greater emphasis will be placed on the strategic fit of events on the UCI WorldTour calendar, on the assessment of their commercial value - including on the basis of engagement on social networks and television broadcasting -, on the sporting level of teams and riders in previous editions, and on the organisers' compliance with the UCI Regulations,” read the statement.

The UCI has appointed a former criminal investigator as its Head of the Fight Against Technological Fraud, to further the governing body’s mission against “fraudulent use of a motor or any other activities that infringe the UCI Regulations.”

Nicholas Raudenski, formerly of the International Testing Agency (ITA) – the body in charge of the UCI’s anti-doping operations – will from May 1 lead the global strategy and continue the work already done by the UCI to ensure the integrity of the sport. 

Technological fraud, or motor doping, has become a serious point of concern for the UCI in the last 15 years and was headed up by former UCI Head of Innovation and Esport, Michael Rogers, until he left his role earlier this month. 

Raudenski is a highly experienced criminal investigator who has spent 23 years working in 'the highest echelons of global sports', as the press release puts it, against corruption, match-fixing, and other ethical issues.

“Pursuing an effective fight against technological fraud is a key element of the UCI’s Agenda 2030 and we are delighted to have Nick Raudenski on board to rule out any possibility of athletes getting away with cheating,” said UCI President David Lappartient in a press release. 

“His unrivalled experience in the areas of deterrence and detection, intelligence and investigations, and sports integrity will be a huge bonus to the UCI’s work to ensure the highest ethical standards and that everyone understands that there is no room in cycling for the fraudulent use of a motor or any other activities that infringe the UCI Regulations.”

Technological Fraud is defined by the UCI as “the fraudulent or unauthorised use of a motor or any other technique that infringes article 1.3.010 of the UCI Regulations”. The article in question states that “The bicycle shall be propelled solely, through a chain set, by the legs (inferior muscular chain) moving in a circular movement, without electric or other assistance.”

The UCI stated that Raudenski will oversee potential new methods to detect technological fraud, adding to those currently seen at races which include magnetic tablets, mobile X-ray cabinets and portable devices using backscatter and transmission technologies.

Raudenski’s previous work has seen him become a global authority on Intelligence & Investigations in sport, having worked for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) before moving to anti-doping.

“I am pleased to join the UCI and contribute to its mission and efforts in fighting against technological fraud in cycling,” Raudenski said. 

“As a leading International Federation dedicated to upholding integrity in all aspects of its operations, the UCI is ‘walking the walk’ by intensifying its focus on this crucial issue. 

“I’m looking forward to leveraging my expertise and experience to support one of the UCI's main missions: to guarantee the integrity of cycling. Moreover, enforcing the rules while safeguarding the well-being of athletes and preserving the integrity of global competition remains paramount to ensuring fairness and credibility in cycling.”

UCI president David Lappartient travelled to Abu Dhabi to attend the MyWhoosh presentation, grateful the indoor cycling app is to become a sponsor of the outdoor road World Championships and curious about a future role MyWhoosh’s data could play in the fight against mechanical doping. 

MyWhoosh has replaced Zwift as the platform and organiser for the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships for the next three years, with the finals held in Abu Dhabi in October, with some kind of new racing format. 

On Thursday, MyWhoosh was also named as the ‘exclusive virtual cycling training platform’ for the UCI Road World Championships from 2024 to 2026. Abu Dhabi will host the Road World Championships in 2028 and the Track World Championships in 2029, helping the UCI to secure major events and funding for years ahead.  

Because Esport cycling is a physical virtual sport, mechanical doping has been used and detected, with athletes tampering with their equipment and falsifying their data. That sparked greater controls by the UCI but doubts about the validity of some performances.  

Lappartient said MyWhoosh will use the data they capture from riders and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect if someone is cheating in Esport races.

He also hinted that MyWhoosh’s technology could one day be used to investigate suspicious performances in other forms of racing, including professional road racing. Lappartient first suggested the idea of using performance data in 2018 when unveiling the use of a mobile X-ray machine to search for mechanical doping.   

The UCI president gave little away but appeared to suggest that athletes’ data could be measured and analysed to try to detect mechanical doping or extraordinary performances, in a similar way that blood values are monitored as part of the UCI Biological Passport programme. Any changes in power data could raise a red flag and spark further investigation.        

“We’ll discuss if this AI technology can be used in real races to detect or at least to target some controls on the bikes,” Lappartient revealed to Cyclingnews.

“I’m sure AI and these new technologies will also help detect or target riders. It may be a problem with the number of watts, or there could be a comparison with all the data we have. I think there’s a bridge there, and we spoke about how we can use their technology. There’s more to come on this.”  

Lappartient is Chair of the IOC’s Esports and Gaming Liaison Group (ELG) and has worked to position Esport cycling as a future Esport Olympic event. 

The deal with MyWhoosh is part of that vision. 

“For us to sign-up a three-year contract and to organise here in Abu Dhabi the future UCI Esports World Championships is great. The qualifications will be online but the finals will be on site.” Lappartient told Cyclingnews.     

Lappartient wants to create a crossover between indoor riding and racing with the world of outdoor cycling.  

“It will bring their audience to the Road World Championships. We need events not just for fans of road cycling but other cyclists too,” he said.  

“We’re working on a special presentation with them and also having the Road World Championships circuit on MyWhoosh before the event so athletes can train on it. It’s also a kind of legacy, after the World Championships, the circuit will remain. That’s a global vision.” 

IOC President Thomas Bach called on the Esports Commission to study the creation of the Olympic Esports Games. They could be held as soon as 2025 as the IOC looks to compete against already established Esport and gaming events.  

“I think Esports cycling will be part of the Esport Games announced by the IOC President in India. Thomas Bach made it clear he wants to launch the IOC Esport Olympic Games,” Lappartient said. 

“We hope to be part of them. It’s up to the IOC to decide on the disciplines, but we’re the leading international federation for physical, virtual sports, so I think we’ll be part of it.” 

The spectre of mechanical doping has reared its head once again at the Tour de France following a report citing several unnamed riders claiming to hear "strange noises" in the rear wheels of a number of team's bikes at the race.

An article published by Swiss newspaper Le Temps on Thursday alleged that three separate riders at the Tour had heard noises they had never heard before coming from bikes involving four teams at the race. 

According to the report, one rider told the newspaper during the first week of the race that he was hearing odd new noises coming from the rear of several bikes. During the race, the UCI had announced that no forms of mechanical doping had been detected.

"There is a strange noise. I can hear it while riding. It comes from the rear wheels. A strange metallic noise, like a badly adjusted chain. I've never heard that anywhere," the rider said.

Two days later, the same rider reported back pointing out that the four teams that featured the noises coming from their rear wheel. "Four teams have this little sizzle in the rear wheel," he said.

Another rider said that talk in the peloton isn't about a motor in the crankset or seat-tube – the most popular rumour that has been circulated about possible mechanical doping in the past decade or so. Instead, he talked of an energy recovery system similar to the technology used in Formula 1 cars.

"There is no longer talk of a motor in the crankset or an electromagnet system in the wheel rims, but of a device hidden in the hub," he said. "We are also talking about an energy recuperator via the brakes. The inertia is stored like in Formula 1."

A third rider, not quoted in the article, is also reported to have raised concerns about the situation. One of the riders noted the relative strength of the four teams in question, with 13 of the 19 stages so far having been shared among them.

"Who will dare to speak out? We're not doing anything, and the situation is serious," one of the riders said. "Usually, we have a team that dominates. Or a team that is weaker than the others. That's sport... This year, four teams are far above the rest. The smallest rider who signs with them becomes very strong. If he changes team, he becomes average again. How can you explain that?"

Following Friday's stage 18, race leader Tadej Pogačar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, denied that his bike was in any way illegal.

"I don't know. We don't hear any noise," Pogačar said in the post-stage press conference. "We don't use anything illegal. It's all Campagnolo materials, Bora. I don't know what to say."

On Monday's rest day, the UCI announced technological testing figures for the first 15 stages of the Tour, with nothing suspicious found after 720 tests had been carried out, including testing with magnetic scanning tablets and X-ray technology.

"A total of 720 tests have been conducted before and after every stage. All tests have come back negative," read the UCI statement.

"Of the tests carried out, 606 were conducted on bikes before the start of each stage using magnetic scanning tablets.  Meanwhile, X-ray technology was used to test another 114 bikes at the end of each stage.

"The UCI underlines that the post-stage testing pool always includes the bike ridden by the winner of that day's stage as well as the leader of the general classification. The remainder of the post-stage testing pool is decided on a two-pronged approach: bikes selected by the UCI based on its information and intelligence, and bikes ridden by athletes selected for targeted anti-doping controls by the International Testing Agency (ITA), the independent body in charge of the UCI's anti-doping activities." 

The statement continued with an announcement that a new form of testing will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, with mobile technology able to scan bikes on the move, rather than just before or after races.

"After the introduction of magnetic tablets in 2016 and mobile X-ray technology in 2018, a new backscatter technology will be used to test bikes at the Tokyo Olympic Games. This relatively compact and light hand-held device provides instant images of the interior of the bike that can be shared in real-time to anywhere in the world via a secure platform.  It will be used in Tokyo at the road, mountain bike and track cycling events."

So far, only one rider has ever been caught and banned for mechanical doping. Cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche was banned for six years in 2016 after a motor was discovered in a bike with her pit crew at the Cyclo-cross World Championships that year.

In 2020, the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) ended a multi-year investigation into mechanical doping at the sport's top level earlier this year without finding any further evidence of the practice.

A tech writer's analysis

Cyclingnews tech writer Josh Croxton gives his thoughts on the allegations:

Having not heard the noise that these anonymous riders are claiming to have heard, it's impossible to say what it's likely to be.

With that said, chains interacting with cassettes and derailleurs all make a noise, some are louder than others, and each setup will likely have a different pitch to the noise.

All four of the mentioned teams use groupsets that have been around for years already. Three of the teams use Shimano Dura-Ace R9170, while the fourth team use Campagnolo SuperRecord EPS 12-speed, and they all use stock components – there are no aftermarket pulley wheel systems attached to derailleurs.

They have all likely swapped out the stock bearings for oiled ceramic bearings, but even so, the noise of the chain interacting with the pulleys and the cassette shouldn't be anything that riders haven't heard before.

One thing that has changed in recent times is the use of waxed chains. It's not a new technology by any means – certainly not new to the 2021 Tour de France – and it's impossible to know for sure which teams are using waxed chains instead of a typical oil-based lubricant, but with the promise of a more efficient drivetrain, it's possible that more teams have made the switch.

One of the named teams, for example, are sponsored by CeramicSpeed and are running the brand's pre-treated UFO race chains. However, for any teams treating chains themselves, these chains need time to 'break in', since the wax dries and hardens. During that initial 10 kilometres or so, chains are considerably noisier than average.

That aside, unfortunately, there's no common denominator between the components used by the four mentioned teams. One team have used Vision wheels, another team has used both Vision and Shimano, while one are on Roval and the fourth team use Campagnolo wheels.

Ultimately, while these claims are very intriguing, there's very little to substantiate them at this stage.

Deceuninck-QuickStep rider Michael Mørkøv has expressed his frustration with the UCI, questioning the governing body's role in the sport after the latest in a string of safety-related incidents, while calling the professional riders' association, the CPA, a "worthless organisation".

Morkov was speaking to Cyclingnews after completing stage 2 of the Tour de Wallonie, where he and many other riders complained about unsafe conditions, from an "unbelievable" road lined with potholes, to temporary traffic poles lining the "incredibly dangerous" run-in to Wavre. Race director Christophe Brandt apologized for the poor conditions saying late changed had forced them to use secondary roads.  

It came the day after the Critérium du Dauphiné peloton enacted a go-slow start to the final stage in protest at a poorly surfaced descent the previous day, and two days after Il Lombardia, where Max Schachmann was hit by a car and Remco Evenepoel crashed over a low wall into a ravine on the notorious descent of the Sormano.

Earlier this month, Mørkøv's teammate Fabio Jakobsen suffered life-threatening injuries at the Tour de Pologne when he crashed into barriers that collapsed on a downhill sprint that had long been seen as dangerous.

"Where is our federation?" Mørkøv asked on Monday. 

"The UCI has said so many times 'it's not our responsibility', but I don't agree. When we participate in a UCI race, it's the UCI that's ultimately responsible.

"What's fresh in our minds is Fabio in Poland. That was a WorldTour race and there were such bad conditions with the barriers. There should be really specific UCI rules on these things. They say 'it's not possible to examine the parcours beforehand' but they need to give fines and punishments to stop the race organisers from doing it.

"They always say it's not their problem but I don't agree. In the end it becomes our problem. We have no chance to do anything or say anything."

If Mørkøv feels riders don't have a voice, it's surely an indictment of the Cyclistes Professionels Associes, the international association of pro riders. 

The CPA, which is funded by a percentage of ride prize money and helped via donations from the UCI, has come under scrutiny over its ability to effectively stand up for riders' interests, with more than 300 riders recently signing a petition to push for reform this summer. The CPA has always said it tries to do all it can to improve rider safety.

"In my opinion, the CPA is a completely useless organisation," Mørkøv said.

"I don't know what the CPA is. I believe they're in partnership with the UCI, because the UCI created it.

"I know there are some people there doing some things but they never seem to do anything that you can actually see happening. They have no power to change anything, so it's a worthless organisation."

As such, Mørkøv can only see "one solution", and that's for change to come from the UCI, but is pessimistic about it ever happening.

"What I don't feel is that the UCI is our federation. It should be. It should work with the riders, but I don't feel like that. I feel like it's against us, actually."

Mørkøv confirmed that he and his fellow riders would not perform any kind of protest at the Tour de Wallonie, arguing that he's still "interested in racing – not demonstrating". 

Asked how the riders can get through to the UCI, he appeared resigned to being powerless to force change from the top.

"No one has ever succeeded with that. It just feels like you're talking to a wall. For my whole career I've been wondering what the ambition of the UCI is, because it never seems to be to do any good for racing," he said.

"As a rider, you never feel you can communicate with them. I don't know anyone at the UCI, I have no clue what they're doing. I've just seen Lappartient talking about motor doping and other ridiculous stuff, but that's it. They should be doing things to improve our safety instead of giving us fines for all these stupid little things."

The UCI has insisted it remains fully committed to stamping out mechanical doping, despite its decision to drop Jean-Christophe Péraud, who led the governing body's efforts against hidden motors. 

On Tuesday, French newspaper L'Equipe reported the news of Péraud's dismissal on June 30, with the UCI later providing confirmation via a statement claiming "the fight against technological fraud remains unchanged". 

Péraud, who finished second at the 2014 Tour de France, was appointed 'Equipment and Fight against Technological Fraud Manager' in late 2017, following David Lappartient's election as president. The UCI confirmed it let him go due to cuts relating to the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Confronted in recent months with a reduction in its income due to the current health crisis (coronavirus pandemic), the UCI has been forced to reorganise some of its activities as part of its programme. In this context, it ended its collaboration with Jean-Christophe Péraud," read a statement from the UCI to Cyclingnews.

"The former Cross-country Olympic vice-champion and second in the 2014 Tour de France helped to solidify our programme for fighting against mechanical cheating, notably through the development of the trackers project, in cooperation with CEA Tech. We salute the expertise and commitment of Jean-Christophe Péraud over these two and a half years, thank him for his contribution to the credibility of our sport, and wish him every success in his future responsibilities."

Péraud helped introduce a number of new methods to detect and deter mechanical doping during his two-and-a-half-year tenure. Along with the magnetic tablet scanners already in use, 2018 saw the widespread use of X-ray scanning, along with thermal imaging and bike tagging, while the use of magnometer tracking devices has been trialled ahead of a planned roll-out this year.

Péraud's departure came at the same time as a long-running French investigation into hidden motors was closed due to a lack of evidence. However, the UCI insists nothing has changed in terms of the fight against mechanical doping. 

"The UCI team that worked alongside Jean-Christophe Péraud, our technical commissaires, our service providers and our National Federations remain in place and will all continue tests and controls (using a range of technologies) in upcoming races in particular once the UCI WorldTour season restarts in August," the statement read. 

"The UCI’s commitment to, and investment in, the fight against technological fraud remains unchanged. The UCI will continue to seek to innovate, develop and invest to combat new and future technologies which compromise our sport’s integrity."

Jean-Christophe Péraud is no longer working for the UCI after his role as leader of the fight against mechanical doping was made redundant last week.

The Frenchman's dismissal was reported by L'Equipe, with the UCI yet to officially confirm it. The French newspaper cites a need to cut costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Péraud reportedly informed via "a discreet telephone call" that his employment would end on June 30.

Péraud, who finished runner-up at the 2014 Tour de France, was appointed as 'Manager of Equipment and the Fight against technological fraud' in late 2017, following David Lappartient's victory in the UCI presidential election. 

At the 2018 Tour de France, Péraud helped to introduce thermal imaging, X-ray scanning, and bike tagging, on top of the existing tablet scanning technology, to test for hidden motors. 

The war on mechanical doping was a key part of Lappartient's election manifesto, but the issue has calmed in the intervening years, with a French investigation into mechanical doping dropped last week due to a lack of evidence. 

"Yes and no," Péraud told L'Equipe when asked whether he had fulfilled his mission. 

"Yes, on a personal level, because I'm aware there's no cheating at the highest level of competition. No, because the UCI has not succeeded in guaranteeing to the general public that this cheating doesn't exist. There's nothing more difficult than proving that something doesn't exist, and there's still a doubt in the mind of the public."

As for whether the credibility of the sport depends on such an investment in a visible campaign against potential motor doping: "It's not up to me to answer that question – it's a political choice."

Péraud retired at the end of 2016 after a career that started out in mountain biking before turning to the road full-time in 2010. He rode for a year at Omega Pharma-Lotto before spending six years at AG2R La Mondiale, where he placed second at the 2014 Tour. 

The 43-year-old is now looking to his next step, and is keen to stay in cycling but with a different focus. 

"I learned a lot at the UCI but I went to get back into the sporting side of things. I'd like to work on performance optimisation in a cycling team, bringing together all the different elements – athletes, directors, doctors..." he said.

"I don't have any specific training but I can use my own experience; I've always been on the hunt for performance through all possible training methods."

In 2016, amid rumours of the illegal use of tiny hidden motors to boost performance at the sport's top level, the UCI seized one of Belgian cyclo-crosser Femke Van den Driessche's bike and found the first instance of mechanical doping in a UCI race. 

L'Equipe reports that the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) ended a multi-year investigation into mechanical doping at the sport's top level earlier this year without finding any further evidence of mechanical doping.

Two financial magistrates supported by the financial crimes division of the French police force began the inquiry in 2017 after a preliminary investigation into a possible motor doping suggested a plot "at the highest level" rumoured to have "benefited big-name riders, allowing them to take advantage of the latest technological advances in the field of electric motors".

According to L'Equipe, the PNC investigators did not question former UCI president Brian Cookson, former general manager Martin Gibbs or past technical manager Mark Barfield, but did question Hungarian Istvan Varjas, the self-professed inventor of the hidden motors.

Cookson took to Twitter, mentioning a news article about the case closure with "You'll have to allow me a wry smile about this..."

In reply to questioning why the tests were not done by an independent group, Cookson replied: "I didn’t say they don’t exist. Clearly they do - as I said, a system was implemented and caught someone. Some said the system didn’t work, but no other system has caught anyone. French authorities investigated and have now said there is no evidence."

Following accusations that Fabian Cancellara used a motor to win the 2010 Paris-Roubaix - which the Swiss star vehemently denied - the UCI began scanning bikes for motors with a tablet device. In 2015, under Cookson, they instituted strong punishment for any rider caught using 'technological fraud' with huge fines and a minimum six-month ban.

The UCI undertaking thousands of tests, scanning bikes for a few seconds with the tablet at the start and finish of races. However no cases arose until the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, where a spare bike in the pit area for the U23 rider Van den Driessche was found to have a motor.

Though Van den Driessche denied any knowledge of the assist motor and a friend testified that the bike belonged to him, she was slapped with a six-year ban.

In 2016, the UCI carried out 3773 tablet tests and also used thermal cameras on bikes without detecting any fraud.

The UCI hoped to roll out other technology to detect motors but L'Equipe reported that a partnership with the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to develop a real-time on-bike monitor for evidence of motor magnetic fields has now been abandoned due to high costs.

In 2018, the UCI added a mobile x-ray scanner system to its testing protocol. Miniature thermal cameras on an in-race motorbike was also used in the 2018 Tour de France but, after a false positive created by a mechanical defect in a riders' pedals, the technology was also abandoned.

According to L'Equipe, former rider Jean-Christophe Péraud, the UCI's 'Manager of Equipment and the Fight against technological fraud' concluded to the French investigators "With 99 per cent certainty, there are no hidden motors in the peloton."

It is unclear what, if any, international investigations were carried out. But the French police decided to close their investigation. The only testing against mechanical doping remains the tablet device and the few bikes, often those of riders selected for anti-doping, that are x-rayed at race finishes.  

The UCI is pushing ahead with plans to step up the fight against mechanical doping, revealing plans to fit bikes with magnometer tracking devices and roll out an upgraded version of its tablet scanner from 2020.

Preventing mechanical doping - the use of hidden motors - was a cornerstone of the manifesto with which David Lappartient was elected UCI president in 2017. Last year saw new initiatives introduced, including post-race X-ray scanning and in-race thermal camera monitoring.

Those measures were unveiled at the governing body's headquarters last March, alongside plans for the magnometer tracking device, developed alongside the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Commission. At that point, the technology appeared to be a work in progress, with no clear timeline on its development. However, the UCI announced on Thursday that, following successful trials at last year's Tour de France, it is ready for manufacturing and could be rolled out as early as next year.

The tracker, which could be "fitted on every bike in the peloton", would detect changes in magnetic field to reveal the presence of a motor hidden in the frame or of electromagnetic-powered wheels.

"A first test phase, carried out at the Tour de France 2018 in collaboration with a number of teams, has demonstrated the feasibility of the method, which can detect hidden operating motors," read the UCI's statement. "The current phase involves identifying an industrial partner in charge of manufacturing the trackers with the introduction of a first version considered for 2020."

The UCI is also set to upgrade the tablet devices that are used by UCI officials to manually scan bikes for hidden motors before the start of races. The technology was introduced by Lappartient's predecessor, Brian Cookson, but its effectiveness has been called into question.

The UCI announced on Thursday that a new version of the tablet will feature "more powerful scanning, more intuitive images, and low cost" and that "the aim is for a first version of the tablets to be in use in 2020."

At the recent Giro d'Italia, the UCI conducted more than 1,000 tests for hidden motors, all of which came back negative. 1,312 tests were carried out ahead of stages using the tablet device, while 113 X-ray tests were carried out post-stage – an average of five bikes per day.

"Since last year, we have at our disposal a robust set of methods to counter the risks of technological fraud that allows us to check bikes at the start and finish lines," said UCI President David Lappartient.

"Research projects are continuing and shall enable us to be equipped with new technologies that can monitor equipment anytime during the competitions. We're aiming to ensure that the cycling community has confidence in the performances of our athletes."

The Union Cycliste International (UCI) has confirmed it carried out a multitude of tests for mechanical doping at the Tour de France, including 164 X-ray tests of race bikes, with all the tests negative. 

The UCI was forced to step up its fight against mechanical doping after French television raised doubts about the validity of the tablet device that was first introduced by former UCI president Brian Cookson when a rudimentary motor was discovered during the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships in a the bike of Belgian U23 racer Femke Van den Driessche. She was later banned for six years. The latest advances in mechanical doping are believed to include electromagnetic wheels.

In March, new UCI president David Lappartient announced the UCI had beefed up its strategy to fight mechanical doping, presenting a special mobile X-ray cabinet in Geneva and promising that thermal imaging cameras will also be used. The UCI also introduced a VAR (Video Assist Referee) that studies all the television images of a race that helps the UCI race judges spot any suspicious bike or wheel changes.

"The Union Cycliste Internationale can today confirm that it carried out rigorous testing during the 2018 Tour de France as part of the fight against technological fraud," the UCI said in a press release on Monday. "The tests were carried out using different technologies – magnetic scanning, X-rays and thermal imaging – before, during and after the stages, throughout the three weeks of competition. Every one of these tests came back negative."

Over the three weeks of racing, 2,852 total tests were carried out - at the start of all 21 stages - using magnetic scanning technology, a method introduced by the UCI for the first time at the Tour de France in 2016.

At the end of stages, 164 tests were carried out using X-ray technology. Between five and 10 bikes were tested at each stage, including those of the stage winner and the yellow jersey holder. Further tests were carried out during the stages using thermal imaging cameras."

Cyclingnews observed the testing during the Tour de France and spoke to new head of UCI Equipment Christophe Péraud, who finished second to Vincenzo Nibali in the 2014 Tour de France. The X-ray testing was done with the UCI's specially created mobile unit parked in the protected anti-doping compound near the finish line. Many of bikes tested belonged to the riders selected for anti-doping controls. A special motorbike carrying a manually operated thermal camera was occasionally seen checking riders for mechanical doping during the racing.

The UCI revealed that it began testing a tracker device that can supposedly detect the magnetic fields created by hidden motors. That programme has been created with the Department of Technological Research at CEA Tech (the French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission).

The eventual aim is to develop a 'tracker' that can be placed on all bikes in the peloton. The first test phase, carried out at the Tour de France in collaboration with several teams, involved detecting magnetic signals.

"I would like to congratulate my UCI colleagues and the UCI Commissaires for their effort and involvement over the last three weeks, during which time an enormous number of bikes have been tested," Lappartient said.

"The objective is to eliminate suspicion and to show the public and all of cycling's stakeholders, including investors, that our sport is credible. We will continue to work in this regard, to ensure that cycling's positive reputation is guaranteed."

The 2018 Tour de France sees the fight against mechanical doping step up a level, with an X-ray machine, thermal cameras, and tagging of bike changes all being employed throughout the three weeks.

The UCI is continuing to use its tablet device to scan bikes for hidden motors or magnetic wheels at the start of each stage, but the governing body's new package of measures, which includes X-ray examination and the in-race use of thermal cameras, will come in to force for the first time at the Tour de France.

Thermal imaging was used in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the Tour de France on the initiative of the French Ministry of Sport, who sourced the cameras from the French Atomic Energy Commission. This year the technology will be used by UCI commissaires, with the governing body collaborating with the French anti-doping agency and French police throughout the three weeks.

In a step further, race officials are also tagging bikes in the event of suspicious mid-race bike changes, in order to test the old bike as well as the new one at the finish.

Former Tour de France podium-finisher Jean-Christophe Péraud is leading the fight against mechanical doping, having been appointed by the UCI as Equipment Manager in November, and he spoke to Cyclingnews in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, where the Tour kicked off on Saturday, to explain the new measures in place.

"First of all, we have the magnetic scanners which will be used to check bikes before the start of the stages," Péraud said. "Then we will have thermal cameras in the race. Mainly, we will have the X-ray truck at the finish, which will allow us to check several bikes, beyond just the stage winner's.

"That way we can assure the public that the winner has won without a motor, and if we can prove that, then we can imagine there are no motors in the peloton."

The beefed-up approach comes as part of a new set of measures first unveiled by the UCI in March, with David Lappartient having made the issue one of the cornerstones of his successful bid for the UCI presidency last autumn.

The UCI have been using their tablet device to scan bikes for nearly three years now, but concerns have been raised about its effectiveness. The X-ray cabinet, produced in collaboration with aerospace and defence industry suppliers VJ Technologies, can reveal motors in the frame or wheels without having to dismantle the bike.

"We will be checking around 10 bikes every day with the X-Ray machine," said Péraud. "The stage winner will always be checked. The yellow jersey will also be checked regularly throughout the race, but not necessarily every day."

The thermal cameras are designed to search for hidden motors while the race is in full flow and any such motors are active. A commissaire on a motorbike will ride alongside a rider, a group of riders, or the peloton, and check for hotspots on their bike that could indicate mechanical doping.

"It will be a commissaire with a thermal camera who will follow the peloton in the same way as a police officer uses a radar speed gun on the road. It's the same principle. From time to time, he will get the camera out to check if there are motors in use," said Péraud, who added that this measure would "not necessarily" be employed every day.

Tagging

As for the tagging, that is a new initiative that has arisen from the suspicion and speculation regarding mid-race bike changes. Riders regularly change bikes when they encounter mechanical issues, but there has been speculation that riders could tactically switch between a normal bike and a motorised one.

The package of new measures unveiled in March also came with the prospect of magnetic tracking devices using radio-frequency identification (RFID), although it was made clear the technology was still in its early development phase and no date has been set for its introduction.

For now, the UCI are making do with rather more old-fashioned technology, tagging bikes with a yellow plastic wire strap, as used to be the case back when riders were not permitted to alter any part of their bike during a race.

The video commissaire – a role created this season – will be used to help spot any suspicious activity, whereupon the swapped-out bike – now on the roof rack of the team car – would be tagged in order to be X-rayed at the finish.

"The commissaires will have these little tags in their pockets, which are like a small bracelet," Péraud explained. "If there are doubts, the video commissaire will alert the president of the jury, who will send a commissaire to stop the car and tag the bike. The tags have a number on them, and at the finish you ask to see the bikes that have been tagged and you pass them through the X-ray machine."

At the end of the opening stage on Saturday, the UCI confirmed it had scanned 152 bikes with the tablet at the start of the day, and X-rayed eight bikes after the stage.

The X-ray cabinet was located by the anti-doping truck and, along with stage 1 winner Fernando Gaviria, many of the riders selected for anti-doping controls had their bikes checked at the same time.

The UCI has confirmed that Chris Froome’s bike was X-rayed after his solo stage victory in Bardonecchia on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, as part of the governing body’s fight against mechanical doping.

Cyclingnews understands that the bikes of the top eight riders on the stage were tested using the mobile X-ray machine that was introduced this spring and used for the first time in the Ardennes Classics.

Bikes are immediately tagged when riders cross the finish line and then taken to the X-ray cabinet in the anti-doping area. The bike is loaded into the mobile unit, with the X-ray images of the bottom bracket, wheels and frame seen on a laptop. The whole process only takes a few minutes.

Barfield was soon shown the door when Lappartient beat Cookson to be elected UCI president last September. He hired former French rider Jean-Christophe Péraud as the new UCI Equipment manager, while Bob Stapleton, chairman of the board of USA Cycling and newly elected to the UCI Management Committee, is also part of the UCI technical commission.

The UCI has announced its new strategy to fight mechanical doping, revealing a series of techniques that include a new mobile X-ray cabinet at major races, the option of thermal imaging cameras in races and the continued use of the magnometric tablet devices, with RFID tagging and the use of miniature magnometer trackers also options for the future.

UCI president David Lappartient listed 'credibility' as one of five key areas in his election manifesto last year, and this includes taking a much stronger stance against mechanical doping in the peloton to stop it being what he described as a "hot topic".

"We're going to do our utmost so that we won't have future cases of technological fraud. The sport has suffered from doping in the past and we don't want our other riders to suffer anymore," Lappartient said at the presentation in Geneva, attended by Cyclingnews.

"Cycling is magnificent sport, one of the most beautiful sports. People must be able to believe in the results; that's why we continue to fight against doping. Technological fraud is easier to resolve than doping. We want to avoid videos on social media that sometimes cast doubts in fans' minds. We want fans to support and believe the results achieved and also by the work done by the UCI. It's our responsibility to guarantee the results and we're determined to do that."

Former UCI president Brian Cookson and the UCI Equipment Manager Mark Barfield first introduced the use of the tablet device to try to detect mechanical doping, but doubts were raised about the validity of the tablet device and its software.

Barfield was soon shown the door when Lappartient beat Cookson to be elected UCI president last September. He quickly hired former French rider Jean-Christophe Péraud as the new UCI Equipment manager, and he worked on the X-ray cabinet machine for the 2018 season. Bob Stapleton, chairman of the board of USA Cycling and newly elected to the UCI Management Committee, is also part of the UCI technical commission and sat alongside Lappartient and Péraud at the presentation in Geneva.

"Technological fraud requires a forceful intervention from UCI before it damages our sport," Stapleton said. "We believe this strategy addresses all fraud scenario and are up the challenge."

The UCI claimed the new strategy will ensure that 150 days of racing will be covered by the bike checks in 2018, across road, cyclo-cross, mountain biking and track racing. The UCI said 50 per cent of all WorldTour races would be covered. The UCI has teamed up with VJ Technologies from Lausanne, which already created X-ray devices for the aerospace, defence and automotive industries, to create the new X-ray cabinet. The UCI has ensured the methods and equipment are validated and certified by independent laboratories.

The mobile X-ray cabinet is the UCI's newest weapon against mechanical doping, and the machine was on show after the presentation. It should reveal any hidden motors in the frame and wheels, without dismantling the bike. The X-ray cabinet is made of a protective lead shield in order to ensure safety for the UCI staff carrying out the checks and so respecting national laws regarding X-ray equipment.

The UCI confirmed that it has also teamed up with CEA Tech – part of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission – to work on an small embedded magnometer tracker device. However, this appeared to be very much a work in progress with no clear timeline on its development.

Lappartient confirmed that the study of performance data and television images had also been considered, but will not be used in the short term.

However, to control suspicious wheel and bike changes during races – which perhaps hide mechanical doping systems – the UCI is considering the introduction of RFID tags to track a bicycle or wheels before, during and after the race, is being investigated.

Fines for mechanical doping of technical fraud offences have also been increased. The rider concerned will be suspended for a minimum of six months and fined between CHF 20,000 and CHF 200,000. The rider's team or other entity the rider represents could also be sanctioned and fined between CHF 100,000 and CHF 1,000,000.

In addition to the above, any action or omission by a person or entity subject to the UCI Regulations enabling, encouraging, facilitating, covering up or otherwise intentionally assisting in a technological fraud shall be sanctioned by a suspension of a minimum of six months and a fine of between CHF 5,000 and CHF 200,000.

The UCI will reveal its news strategy to fight and deter mechanical doping at a special presentation in Geneva on Wednesday. Cyclingnews will attend the presentation and have full coverage of the announcements.

UCI president David Lappartient has said that the world governing body "doesn't want technological fraud to continue as a hot topic."

"There hasn't been a lot of trust in the UCI's strategy, and that generated suspicions. With tighter, more efficient controls we can protect the riders and their image," Lappartient told La Gazzetta dello Sport in December.

Belgian rider Femke Van Driessche remains the only cyclist to have been caught with a motor at a professional race. The device was found in her spare bike at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships and despite protesting her innocence, she was handed a six-year ban. Since then, there have been several incidents at the amateur level including a 53-year-old in Italy, and a 43-year-old French rider in a race in the Dordogne. The Frenchman was recently sentenced to 60 hours of community service.

The UCI has used an expensive tablet device to detect the 'magnetic flux density' of possible hidden motors in recent years but a report by France Télévisions and Il Corriere della Sera demonstrated the apparent ineffectiveness of the tablet-based method, especially against the use of suspected electromagnetic wheels.

La Gazzetta dello Sport has suggested that the UCI is preparing a special vehicle fitted with an x-ray machine and CT scanner so that bikes and even wheels can be quickly checked for hidden motors. Thermal cameras in races are also expected to be used as part of a multiple strategy to fight mechanical doping.

The cost of the UCI's investment in new technologies and testing methods is estimated at €500,000 per-year by Lappartient, with a new race commissaire supervising the bike checks. The commissaire will also be in contact with the new video judge in major Classics and Grand Tours who can signal suspicious bike changes during races.

Lappartient has brought in former French rider Jean-Christophe Péraud as the new UCI Manager of Equipment. He replaced Mark Barfield, who was hired under Brian Cookson's presidency and lead the search for mechanical doping with the tablet device. Bob Stapleton, chairman of the board of USA Cycling and newly elected to the UCI Management Committee, is also part of the UCI technical commission and will be present with Lappartient and Péraud at the presentation.

"We don't want to find motors in bikes: we want to show that there aren't any," Lappartient told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday.

"We'll have new and better technology at our disposal, the best there is, to give our sport more credibility."

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Cyril Fontayne, the 43-year-old French amateur cyclist who was caught using a hidden motor during a race last October, has been found guilty of attempted fraud and sentenced to 60 hours of community service by a court in Périgueux.

Fontayne was already found guilty of technological fraud and handed a five-year ban by the French Cycling Federation (FFC) in December, and AFP has reported that he pleaded also guilty before the correctional tribunal in Périguex on Tuesday.

As well the 60 hours of community service, Fontayne must pay a symbolic €1 in damages to the FFC and a further €88 to the Créon-d'Armagnac cycling club, the organiser of a race in which he used his hidden motor.

The former rider Christophe Bassons, who now works for the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), was involved in unmasking Fontayne when he drove after the rider and blocked his escape when the motor was discovered in his bike at a race in Saint-Michel-de-Double, near Bordeaux.

"There was a sanction, the misdemeanour has been recognised," Bassons said after Fontayne's hearing, according to Le Parisien. "Today, we have shown that cheating during a race can lead to a conviction for fraud."

Fontayne's motor doping was discovered on October 1 in a race for veterans and juniors with a field of just 16 riders. He had been targeted by the AFLD after arousing the suspicions of his fellow competitors in the weeks prior to the race.

He reportedly bought the rudimentary downtube motor from a French website and fitted it to a frame bought online from China. He suggested that the French site sells between twenty and thirty motors a month. Fontayne said that he had started using the motor after suffering with a herniated disc earlier in 2017.

"I don't sell drugs and I didn't kill a child, I put a motor in my bike," Fontayne told France Bleu in October. "I'll serve as an example but I think it will do good to cycling because I am not the only one doing it."

Fontayne's was the second reported case of motor doping in amateur cycling in 2017 after an Italian rider was caught using a similar device during a race near Brescia.

The most notable proven case of motor doping is that of Belgian cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche, who was caught with a hidden motor in a bike at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships. She was subsequently banned for six years.

UCI President David Lappartient has pledged to improve testing for mechanical doping after doubts were raised about the efficiency of the UCI's magnetic tablets. The governing body is due to outline its plans in Aigle later this month.

Thomas Voeckler has spoken out about mechanical doping, saying he is convinced that he raced against riders using hidden motors and that he wouldn't be surprised if Lance Armstrong had cheated in such a way.

The Frenchman called an end to his 17-year career at the end of the 2017 Tour de France and is preparing to make his debut as a pundit for French state broadcaster France Télévisions next month.

Voeckler rode through a troubled era in cycling as the sport failed to clean itself up in the wake of the 1998 Festina Affair. He has always denied doping himself but there were a number of cases involving his contemporaries – including Armstrong – and now, having initially been sceptical, he believes there was doping of the mechanical sort, as well as the chemical.

"At first, when I heard people talking about it, I laughed. I said to myself, 'What have they found now to damage cycling?'" Voeckler told French newspaper, Le Parisien.

"Later, seeing certain reports, I was convinced that some have taken us for fools and used a motor."

The issue of mechanical doping has become increasingly prominent over the past few years. Sophisticated technology is clearly in existence and many suspect it has been used in the sport's biggest races. The UCI has stepped up its testing to include scans using a tablet device – though question marks have been raised over its effectiveness – and David Lappartient made the issue a key part of his campaign as he defeated Brian Cookson to become the new UCI president in September.

Beyond amateur cyclists, Femke van den Driessche is so far the only rider to have been caught with a hidden motor. The Belgian cyclo-cross rider received a six-year ban from the UCI in 2016 after a motor was discovered in one of her bikes at that year's cyclo-cross Worlds.

"In my opinion, there's no more of it since the tests were put in place," said Voeckler. "It's a form of doping that is not complicated to eradicate."

Voeckler was also asked by Le Parisien if he believed Lance Armstrong had used a hidden motor. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles – three of which were won in the presence of Voeckler – after admitting to using EPO and other banned substances, but there are suspicions that he may have doped mechanically, too. Armstrong has flatly denied such allegations.

"Did Armstrong use it? With him, I'd no longer be shocked by anything," said Voeckler. 

Fabian Cancellara has described professional cycling as a mess due to a lack of unity and a global vision for the future, and again challenged Phil Gaimon to a race in response to the American’s suggestions that he may have used mechanical doping during his successful classics and time trial career.

Cancellara made his strong comments during a visit to La Gazzetta dello Sport in Milan. During his long and successful career, the Swiss rider was one of the ‘patrons’ of the peloton and was never afraid to use his status to lead a protest or control the race after a crash or incident.

Despite retiring in 2016, he still ready to speak his mind about the sport the sport that gave him so much.

Cancellara dismisses world champion Peter Sagan as a possible new leader of the peloton, suggesting the problems of the sport are elsewhere.

“With the results he has, Peter could be a leader of the peloton but it’s not his thing. He’s a rockstar, an individualist. If only there were more like him. The problems are elsewhere,” Cancellara told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The foundations are the problem: the UCI, the big organisers, the teams and riders. There’s a lack of unity and a global vision for the future. It’s a bordello [a mess or, literally, a brothel - ed.] The politics of the sport don’t work and so everyone suffers. Everyone just thinks about what they can earn in the short term. Yet cycling, for the emotions it gives people, has enormous potential. Sadly that’s not used in the right way.”

Since retiring after winning a gold medal in the time trial at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Cancellara has been gradually adapting to a life away from professional racing. He raced as a professional for 16 seasons, winning four world time trial titles, two Olympic gold medals, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix three times, Milan-San Remo and a total of 78 races.

Cancellara has begun to study sports management, has kept fit by competing in a triathlon and has launched his Chasing Cancellara series of events. Nine are planned in 2018, kicking off in Mallorca on March 8, with a 48km handicap ride near Manacor, with Cancellara starting last and ‘chasing’ the other entrants. The final event will be held in Lugano on September 22.

Challenging Gaimon

After Gaimon’s book was published in the USA, repeating rumours he had heard about mechanical doping, Cancellara challenged the former Cannondale rider to a race. Cancellara has always denied accusations of mechanical doping. However, new UCI president David Lappartient told Cyclingnews that the UCI would investigate the latest claims. 

Gaimon insisted that the anecdote in the book was taken out of the context, and that he was only trying to break down the sport's main heroes and focus attention on lesser but deserving riders. His book, titled Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While), gives gritty details of his fight to survive as a professional rider.

“He wanted to sell his book and he chose the best month to do it,” Cancellara told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Nothing happens in November and he launched a bomb. I’ve challenged him to go up against me. Let's see how many watts Gaimon has. I’ve still got some good numbers, even if not for very long because I’m not on form. He should come to my races, there are nine to choose from, so we can see how good he is.”

New UCI president David Lappartient is determined to fight mechanical doping, recently suggesting the UCI will spend €500,000 on a new system of five kinds of checks, including tablets, x-rays, thermal cameras and the dismantling bikes to search for hidden motors.

Lappartient has said he wants to end mechanical doping being a ‘hot topic.' Cancellara, however, is not convinced hidden motors have ever been used.

“I don’t think someone has used one because there’s a chance you’d get caught and exposed,” he said.

“I was always strong and my legs are my motor. There’s lot of envy out there and when you win they take aim at you. But I’m happy with what I did [in my career] for the good of cycling.”

For more of the Cyclingnews podcast, click here.

At an informal sit down with the press at the Tour Down Under, UCI president David Lappartient confirmed the governing body's on-going fight against mechanical doping. An announcement regarding new initiatives and technologies was initially slated for the end of January but will now be made in March with a demonstration by the UCI.

During his election campaign in the lead up to September's presidential elections and following his victory, Lappartient has remained committed to stamping out mechanical doping from cycling. The UCI's tablet scanning of bikes before and after races remains its number one method for now but from March, sophisticated changes are coming as Lappartient explained

"It has been a little bit delayed because we were supposed to probably make the announcement at the end of January," Lappartient said of the developments.

"We can do this but I prefer to make the announcement with the demonstration with what we will do. This will probably be in the middle of March. What I can tell you is that we are ready and we know what we will do. We will have five different ways to fight and of course we have been working very hard with Bob Stapleton, the chairman of the equipment material, plus Jean-Christophe Péraud who has been involved in this.

"We will be ready for this but nevertheless in the meantime, I would say between now and mid-March, we will continue to use the current system we have. Plus, some other systems but we will be really ready after mid-March."

The cost of the UCI's investment in new technologies and testing methods is estimated at €500,00 per-year by Lappartient. The methods are set to include tablets, x-rays, thermal cameras and the dismantling bikes to check for hidden motors.

Belgian rider Femke Van Driessche remains the only cyclist to have been caught with a motor in a professional race, at the 2016 'cross Worlds and was handed a six-year ban. Since then, there have been several incidents at amateur level including a 53-year-old in a race near Brescia in Italy, and a 43-year-old French rider in a race in the Dordogne. Both in 2017.

The main focus of the UCI's fight against mechanical doping will be professional cycling but for Lappartient, it is an issue that needs eradicating from the sport in general. Although Lappartient has "no specific idea" if mechanical doping is currently taking place, he would rather be safe than sorry and witness the sport endure further scandal.

"To guarantee the credibility of the result and give the message to all the people that love cycling that, 'ok, you can trust our sport. We are doing what we have to do'. And this is why I don't want to be in a situation to ask myself do we have such a situation or not," he said of the reasoning to further invest in controls for mechanical doping. "I don't think so but I am not sure. I want to be sure and we also have to consider not only the top level but also national races, regional races, because we saw an example in Italy, in France.

"Our idea on this will be to fight at the top level on the track and the road but also to deliver something very low cost but efficient to the national federations to fight at their level. To ensure in cyclo-sportif that we have no problem with this."

Lappartient is hopeful the increased investment and new methods from the UCI can keep the UCI ahead of the issue. A "problem" he believes is "less difficult to solve than the doping situation."

"With that technology we have I think there is no way to go outside. But of course we must always be careful about the development of technologies because you can have systems of technology to cheat that is sometimes smaller and smaller so we have to be careful. The technology we will deliver ... is also technology for the future and we will develop this in 2018.I am confident we will solve this problem.”

Riccardo Riccò has promised to return to racing when his ban for blood doping ends in 2023, despite considering himself a pariah of the sport compared to many of his former Grand Tour rivals.

The disgraced Italian will be 40 in 2023, but during a long interview published by La Gazzetta dello Sport he insists he will be competitive.

Ricco was banned for 12 years in 2012 after already serving a two-year ban for his positive test for CERA at the 2008 Tour de France. He was also caught up in an investigation into the sale of stolen hospital medicines before moving from Italy to the Spanish island of Tenerife, where he now owns an ice cream parlour.

"I'll be 40 when my ban ends in 2023. I'll be competitive. If I was training now, I'd be stronger than ever, I feel it. Some teams want me and if not I'd create my own team. Whatever, sooner or later I'll be back racing," Ricco told La Gazzetta dello Sport, still showing his usual bravado during an interview. The interview took place in his lawyer's office in Rimini in the presence of his latest wife, Melissa, who he married a year ago.

"I've now got a ice cream shop in Tenerife. I even make ice cream for dogs. Things are going well. Perhaps it's because I'm now working but I think I've changed. I like making ice cream but there's nothing like my love for cycling.

"I don't ride much, but I still love it. Riding helps me relax. I don't watch much racing, but I see my former colleagues go as fast as ever, if not faster. Valverde is like balsamic vinegar, the older he gets the better he is. I like [Fabio] Aru, [Peter] Sagan is unique and is good for cycling. I like [Vincenzo] Nibali, too. He's the best rider we have in Italy."

Ricco was always a controversial figure. He won mountain stages at the Giro d’Italia in 2007 and 2008 but made bigger headlines for his blunt comments about his rivals and about doping when he was caught.

He suggested to La Gazzetta dello Sport that he is still treated like someone with the plague because he lacked 'friends' in the right places but claims that has not dented his love for cycling and stopped him from again speaking his mind. He reveals he “named names" and spoke for seven hours to the UCI's CIRC commission that published its report into doping in professional cycling in 2015. That failed to secure a cut in his ban.

"I got a long ban because I always said what I thought. I was young, exuberant and never held anything back. I also never had anyone who helped me. In comparison, [Ivan] Basso has been good at selling himself to the media. It's one of his qualities. He was also surrounded by the right people," Ricco said.

"When I had problems everyone disappeared. Agents and managers only think about money. That disgusts me. There are some managers who know everything about doping and direct you where to go. In cycling it's the riders and teams that are punished but I'd include managers, too, and to young rider's relatives, too. Teams don't say you have to dope but they want results."

'I prefer chemical doping to mechanical doping'

Ricco made the headlines for his sharp tongue and generalised accusations. In that aspect he appears to have changed little. He appears to have little regret about doping and the damage it caused to the sport.

"I was only ever scared of being caught. That's why I always did less than I was told to. I was never scared of damaging my health," he said.

"I got my doping from a person I trusted. The black market is huge and even the pharmaceutical companies play their part, but they're untouchable. I worked with Dr. Santuccione, he was a great person. I never wanted to go with Dr. Ferrari because I couldn't stand the idea that he could decide the results of races. Ferrari had loads of riders. He decided the classification."

Ricco confirms he was saved from death by emergency doctors in Italy after adding infected blood to his body. He reveals he later thanked the doctors for saving his life.

"I almost died from blood poisoning after bacteria got into the blood bag. A lot of people said the blood was kept poorly but that's not true. I didn't keep the blood bag in the fridge with the vegetables. I'm not stupid. I had a special fridge for it," he said.

"When I felt ill I didn't know what to do and so things quickly got worse. The doctors saved me. Things were so bad that I didn't have time to be afraid. Nobody has even known this, but I went to thank the doctors after they saved my life."

Ricco carefully chose his words when asked about the current state of professional cycling. He insisted he would have never used mechanical doping.

"Are they clean now? Are we sure? I'm out of that world so I don't know. What do you think?" he says, turning the question to Italian journalist Claudio Ghisalberti, who did the interview.

"It's not nice to ask if people prefer cycling now or in the past. I think that chemical [doping] helps under medical control, even if it's called doping, and does less damage than the effort of riding the Tour de France on bread and water.

"I want to add that I prefer chemical doping to mechanical doping. At least you have the courage to take your on risks. Mechanical doping means it's a different sport. I'd never have been able to use it. I'd have felt like a shit."

New UCI President David Lappartient has promised to bring mechanical doping's time as a hot topic in cycling to an end. Speaking with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lappartient promised tighter controls to remove suspicions that the UCI is not up to the task of rooting out possible fraud.

"We don't want technological fraud to continue as a hot topic," Lappartient told the newspaper. "An investigation has recently been opened in France. There hasn't been a lot of trust in the UCI's strategy, and that generated suspicions. With tighter, more efficient controls we can protect the riders and their image."

Belgian U23 cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche is the only athlete to have been sanctioned by the UCI for mechanical doping to date, and she was handed a six-year ban after a motor was discovered in one of her bikes at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.

In July of this year, a 53-year-old amateur rider was caught using a motor at a race near Brescia in Italy, while a 43-year-old French amateur was found to have used a motor in a race in the Dordogne last month.

Read more:

• 139 mechanical doping checks carried out at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• UCI continue checks for mechanical doping at Tirreno-Adriatico - News Shorts
• UCI checks all Tirreno-Adriatico time trial bikes for mechanical doping
• UCI check ten teams for mechanical doping at Paris-Roubaix

As yet, there have been no confirmed cases of mechanical doping at the professional level on the road, and Lappartient downplayed the idea that cheats might already be several steps ahead of the testers.

Former US pro Phil Gaimon recently highlighted the issue when a passage in his book Draft Animals that discussed previous allegations against Fabian Cancellara gained traction on social media. Cancellara has consistently denied the accusations.

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond and his wife, Kathy, have been critical of the UCI's attempts to detect mechanical doping. Greg Lemond told Cyclingnews in 2016 that heat guns or thermal cameras are the best way to detect hidden motors in races. However, the UCI has previously been critical of the effectiveness of the devices.

They Lemonds were two key interviewees on the CBS 60 Minutes investigation that aired in January and featured claims that motors had been used in bikes at the Tour de France.

The UCI currently uses an expensive tablet device to detect the 'magnetic flux density' of motors, but in the lead-in to the UCI election in September, a report by France Télévisions and Il Corriere della Sera demonstrated the apparent ineffectiveness of the UCI's current, tablet-based method of testing for mechanical doping.

In an interview with Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Lappartient said that improving the UCI's measures against mechanical doping – or technological fraud – was one of his chief objectives as president. Now he appears ready to make good on that promise.

"We'll announce a new strategy on January 30,” Lappartient told La Gazzetta. "We're working with the help of [Jean-Christophe] Peraud and Bob Stapleton. I can reveal that the budget has increased and that we'll use a mix of deterrents: tablet, x-ray, thermal cameras and even dismantling bikes.

"There'll be more people involved,” Lappartient said. "And we'll help the national federations fight the problem, too."

More on this story:

• Mechanical doping inventor says UCI obstructed police attempts to find cheaters at this year's Tour de France - October 13, 2016
• Mechanical doping inventor promises major revelation in January - December 16, 2016
• CBS 60 Minutes investigates mechanical doping in professional cycling - December 28, 2016
• Tour de France to continue thermal imaging checks for mechanical doping - January 17, 2017
• CBS 60 minutes to broadcast investigation into mechanical doping on Sunday - January 27, 2017
• Claims of mechanical doping at the Tour de France in CBS 60 Minutes investigation - January 30, 2017
• Bruyneel blasts LeMond for 'obsession' with Armstrong and mechanical doping - February 8, 2017
• 53-year-old amateur rider caught using hidden motor at Italian race - July 30, 2017
• Italian amateur denies using mechanical doping - July 31, 2017
• Report: Four ways to hide motor doping in a race bike - August 1, 2017
• Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping - September 3, 2017
• UCI's mechanical doping tests called into question - Video - September 4, 2017
• UCI defends mechanical doping testing procedure - September 4, 2017
• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping - October 2, 2017
• French veteran racer defends his use of mechanical doping - October 3, 2017
• Madiot: Lappartient must follow through on mechanical doping promises - October 3, 2017
• Lappartient: I need to be sure there's no mechanical doping - October 20, 2017
• Lappartient pledges more stringent testing against mechanical doping - November 7, 2017
• Gaimon calls Cancellara mechanical doping accusations a 'red herring' - November 8, 2017
• UCI to investigate Gaimon's Cancellara mechanical doping accusations - November 9, 2017

According to French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaîné, two highly respected magistrates have opened an investigation into alleged mechanical doping in cycling.

The weekly magazine claims that financial magistrates Claire Thépaut and Serge Tournaire were appointed last summer after a preliminary investigation to look at a possible plot "put together at the highest level" that has "benefited big-name riders, allowing them to take advantage of the latest technological advances in the field of electric motors".

The investigation is also reported to be looking at "links between international teams, private companies and cycling's highest authorities". It suggests that "the 'extraterrestrial' performances on some climbs have lead to doubts: have they gone beyond the 'biological doping' that has been used in the peloton for more than a century."

Le Canard Enchaîné article – published on the front page of the magazine on Wednesday, has been reported widely in France. The two financial magistrates are apparently supported by the financial crimes division of the French police force.

Cyclingnews contacted the UCI for comment on Wednesday, and the governing body welcomed the new information. 

"The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) takes note of the information published today in Le Canard Enchaîné reporting that an investigation is underway in France in the context of the fight against technological fraud. We welcome any assistance that could be brought to us in this field, which is one of the key priorities of the UCI President's mandate, and are available to provide any help necessary to the competent jurisdictions," read a statement.

Read more:

• 139 mechanical doping checks carried out at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• UCI continue checks for mechanical doping at Tirreno-Adriatico - News Shorts
• UCI checks all Tirreno-Adriatico time trial bikes for mechanical doping
• UCI check ten teams for mechanical doping at Paris-Roubaix

The UCI has carried thousands of checks against mechanical doping using a simple tablet device that detects magnetic fields. However there have been reports of the use of hidden magnetic wheels and shielding technology that makes it difficult to detect mechanical doping with the tablet.

There have three confirmed cases of mechanical doping. In 2016, Belgian under 23 rider Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a rudimentary hidden motor in her bike at the World Cyclo-Cross Championships and was given a six-year ban. In October local French racer Cyril Fontayne was caught using a bike equipped with a motor during a minor race near Périgueux. In Italy another veteran rider was reported to have been caught with a similar device. Both are yet to be sentenced.

New UCI President David Lappartient has promised a crackdown on mechanical doping after doubts were raised about the efficiency of the UCI's magnetic tablets. He said that heat guns and x-rays will be used alongside the UCI's tablet device at future professional races. He is expected to present his new strategy to fight mechanical doping in the New Year.

More on this story:

• Mechanical doping inventor says UCI obstructed police attempts to find cheaters at this year's Tour de France - October 13, 2016
• Mechanical doping inventor promises major revelation in January - December 16, 2016
• CBS 60 Minutes investigates mechanical doping in professional cycling - December 28, 2016
• Tour de France to continue thermal imaging checks for mechanical doping - January 17, 2017
• CBS 60 minutes to broadcast investigation into mechanical doping on Sunday - January 27, 2017
• Claims of mechanical doping at the Tour de France in CBS 60 Minutes investigation - January 30, 2017
• Bruyneel blasts LeMond for 'obsession' with Armstrong and mechanical doping - February 8, 2017
• 53-year-old amateur rider caught using hidden motor at Italian race - July 30, 2017
• Italian amateur denies using mechanical doping - July 31, 2017
• Report: Four ways to hide motor doping in a race bike - August 1, 2017
• Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping - September 3, 2017
• UCI's mechanical doping tests called into question - Video - September 4, 2017
• UCI defends mechanical doping testing procedure - September 4, 2017
• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping - October 2, 2017
• French veteran racer defends his use of mechanical doping - October 3, 2017
• Madiot: Lappartient must follow through on mechanical doping promises - October 3, 2017
• Lappartient: I need to be sure there's no mechanical doping - October 20, 2017
• Lappartient pledges more stringent testing against mechanical doping - November 7, 2017
• Gaimon calls Cancellara mechanical doping accusations a 'red herring' - November 8, 2017
• UCI to investigate Gaimon's Cancellara mechanical doping accusations - November 9, 2017

Fabian Cancellara has challenged Phil Gaimon to a race after the former American rider repeated rumours in his book that Cancellara may have used mechanical doping to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2010. 

In what seems like an attempt to diffuse a war of words and promote his post-career commercial activities, Cancellara took to Twitter to invite Gaimon to one of the eight Chasing Cancellara events planned for 2018.

The VIP events offer anyone a chance to take on Cancellara on a short timed route, with those who beat him awarded a "Fabian Cancellara Conqueror Certificate"

Cancellara concluded his offer by saying: I am very curious to see how much watt you can push! Start training! #nomotorneeded.

Gaimon was quick to respond to the challenge, writing: “Are there cookies? Bike rides should have cookies” referencing his running joke that he loves eating cookies. He did not say if he would take up Cancellara's offer.

Cancellara's challenge appears to have eased the tension regarding Gaimon's claims. Soon after they emerged, the Swiss riders' lawyers demanded that he apologise and that publishers remove the book from sale. However Gaimon hit back with a statement insisting that he was simply "repeated a rumor that's well-documented and many years old."

He added: "Put a gun to my head and that's what I believe so I'd be a liar if I left it out, but I claim no revelations or proof, so I don't see it being 'taken off the shelves' except by the folks buying it".

The passage in Gaimon's book frames the allegations in a manner similar to internet arguments dating back to the 2010 Tour of Flanders, when suspicions first arose that Cancellara's acceleration on the Kapelmuur were 'unnatural.'

Cancellara has always denied accusations of mechanical doping, once saying, "My body is my motor". However new UCI president David Lappartient told Cyclingnews that the UCI would investigate the latest claims. 

Gaimon insisted that the anecdote in the book was taken out of the context, and that he was only trying to break down the sport's main heroes and focus attention on lesser, deserving riders. His book, titled Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While), gives gritty details of his fight to survive as a professional rider.  

Former US pro Phil Gaimon said Tuesday that he stands by statements made in his book and that he believes Fabian Cancellara engaged in mechanical doping during the Swiss rider's career.

Writing on his website, Gaimon says the comments in his book, Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While), only repeated a "well-documented" rumour, one that he says he believes.

"I stand by my opinion, but it's exactly that, and anyone who actually opened the book would know that what I said was far from an 'accusation,'" Gaimon wrote on his website. "Put a gun to my head and that’s what I believe so I’d be a liar if I left it out, but I claim no revelations or proof, so I don't see it being 'taken off the shelves' except by the folks buying it."

Cancellara, through his manager, demanded that Gaimon's publisher retract the book and that Gaimon publicly apologise. Gaimon’s statement on his website did not include an apology, but he did emphasise that the passage concerning Cancellara in the book was only his opinion and not an "accusation."

The passage in Gaimon's book frames the allegations in a manner similar to internet arguments dating back to the 2010 Tour of Flanders, when suspicions first arose that Cancellara's acceleration on the Kapelmuur were 'unnatural.'

"When you watch the footage, his accelerations don't look natural at all, like he's having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor," Gaimon wrote in his book.

Cancellara has always denied accusations of mechanical doping, saying, "My body is my motor." Gaimon, when asked about the passage by Cyclingnews last week, clarified that he believed mechanical doping did happen, but only a few times before the public caught on and made it impossible to continue using motors. He insisted that the anecdote in the book was taken out of the context, and that he was only trying to break down the sport's main heroes and focus attention on lesser, deserving riders.

Gaimon's full statement:

In “Draft Animals,” I repeated a rumor that’s well-documented and many years old, and I presented it as such. I stand by my opinion, but it’s exactly that, and anyone who actually opened the book would know that what I said was far from an “accusation.” Put a gun to my head and that's what I believe so I'd be a liar if I left it out, but I claim no revelations or proof, so I don't see it being "taken off the shelves" except by the folks buying it. Ironically, that part in the book is dismissing conspiracy theories about motors today as clickbait, and it’s now been turned into clickbait.

My friendship with Tom Danielson is a big part of the story, so usually when I get hate mail, it’s calling me a hypocrite for not being enough of a "doper hater." I didn’t expect this to be pulled out of context or turned into mudslinging, and I’m sorry for anyone who’s wasted time or energy on it. That's not how I wanted to sell books, and it’s not worth this headache. There were some things I had to get off my chest and some tough times to share to give a picture of the sport as I experienced it, but if a juicy tell-all is what you’re looking for, don’t bother buying it. I don’t reference any scandal you haven’t heard before, and I’ll probably show empathy towards dopers that you want me to hate. I expect that type of reader will be disappointed.

The story I want to tell is about what it means to follow a dream to the bitter end–how hard I worked, how good I had to get and what I chose to put myself through, ultimately to suck at the highest level of cycling and make peace with it. It’s my truth and it’s the best I could do and I put a lot of time and emotion into it, but my opinions aren’t always popular, which I understand will make some people angry. I hope a few of you will read past the noise and enjoy “Draft Animals” for what it is.

As always, shoutout to everyone who gets it, everyone who takes the time to read the book (instead of a sentence that someone tweeted) before they judge, and I’m going for a bike ride.

Fabian Cancellara responded to accusations that he resorted to mechanical doping by demanding a halt to the sales of the book containing the allegations, Phil Gaimon's Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While), according to Het Nieuwsblad.

Speaking through his manager Armin Meier, Cancellara also called for a public apology from the retired American rider.

The passage in Gaimon's book frames the allegations in a manner similar to internet arguments dating back to the 2010 Tour of Flanders, when suspicions that Cancellara's acceleration on the Kapelmuur being 'unnatural' first arose.

"When you watch the footage, his accelerations don't look natural at all, like he's having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor," Gaimon writes.

The UCI president David Lappartient told Cyclingnews last week that the federation has no option but to investigate the allegations.

"Of course, I heard all the rumours, like everybody, and I just want to know exactly. So we will investigate, that is our job," Lappartient said.

"At this level, I cannot say more than this, but I hope that this never happened in professional cycling. If this was the case, it would be a disaster for the image of cycling and that's why we have to fight. I want the people and the fans on the road to be able to trust the result, trust the UCI and trust the controls from our institutions."

Cancellara has always denied accusations of mechanical doping, saying "my body is my motor". Gaimon, when asked about the passage by Cyclingnews last week clarified that he felt that mechanical doping did happen, but only a few times before the public caught on and made it impossible to continue using motors. He insisted that the anecdote was taken out of the context of him trying to break down the sport's main heros and focus attention on lesser, deserving riders.
 

A former Saxo Bank mechanic has defended Fabian Cancellara after Phil Gaimon accused him of motor doping. Rune Kristensen, who currently works with Quick-Step Floors, worked on Cancellara’s bike during the 2010 Classics campaign and says that it would have been impossible to hide a mechanical device.

“I simply do not think it's possible to cheat on an electric motor without being discovered,” Kristensen told ekstrabladet.dk.

The comments by Gaimon are not the first to question Cancellara. Following his 2010 Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix victories, where he accelerated away from his rivals while sat in the saddle, Cancellara was forced to defend himself against accusations made by the Italian journalist Michele Bufalino. Cancellara has always denied this and, at the time, responded by saying “my body is my motor.”

Kristensen was one of two mechanics to work on Cancellara’s bike during that particular campaign. “In 2010, I was a mechanic at the two races [Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix] with Cancellara's permanent mechanic, Roger Theel, and we jointly assembled all the team's bikes for spring classics," he said.

“Had there been an engine stored in a bike, I would have discovered it. It would not be possible to avoid it. Fabian's bikes were handled like all other bikes, so it's impossible that something could be hidden in it.”

Gaimon’s comments were made in his book Draft Animals and were picked up in the press earlier this week. The former rider said that he had not previously entertained the idea that Cancellara had been motor doping, but testimony from previous teammates along with video footage changed his mind on the matter.

“I dismissed it until I heard his former teammates talk about certain events where Cancellara had his own mechanic, his bike was kept separate from everyone else's, and he rode away from a "who's who" of dopers,' Gaimon wrote. “When you watch the footage, his accelerations don't look natural at all, like he's having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor.”

Speaking to Cyclingnews on Wednesday, Gaimon stood by his comments, saying that Cancellara’s accelerations – particular those in his 2008 Milan-San Remo victory – looked unnatural. However, he added that he thought that they had been taken out of context.

"I do think it happened that year a couple times, but as soon as somebody noticed and it became a story nobody did it again. I think it's an absolute clickbait, red herring – even up to the new UCI president [David Lappartient] who is acting like it's a big issue that he is going to get to the bottom of. Anyone on the inside knows it's a joke."

While Gaimon may believe that his words were taken out of context, the matter has continued to escalate. Newly appointed UCI president David Lappartient, who has been particularly vocal about motorised doping, told Cyclingnews on Thursday that the body would look into the accusations.

"What I would say regarding the case you are speaking about is that I will try to have more information and we will investigate. We will investigate because we need to know exactly what is behind this. Of course, I heard all the rumours, like everybody, and I just want to know exactly. So we will investigate, that is our job," Lappartient told Cyclingnews.

"At this level, I cannot say more than this, but I hope that this never happened in professional cycling. If this was the case, it would be a disaster for the image of cycling and that's why we have to fight. I want the people and the fans on the road to be able to trust the result, trust the UCI and trust the controls from our institutions."

Cancellara has not publicly responded to the comments.

The UCI has announced that former AG2R-La Mondiale rider Jean-Christophe Peraud has been appointed as the new UCI Manager of Equipment and so will lead the fight against the use of mechanical doping in the peloton.

The UCI confirmed to Cyclingnews that Mark Barfield, who led controls against mechanical doping under previous UCI president Brian Cookson, has left the international governing body.

The UCI's measures have come under intense scrutiny since they introduced a simple tablet device as a way to check bikes for hidden motors. A Stade 2 report demonstrated the apparent ineffectiveness of the tablet, with reports that more sophisticated systems of magnetic wheels could be in use in the peloton. The UCI has never discovered a case of mechanical doping in the professional road peloton with the tablet device. Belgium's Femke Van den Driessche is the only elite rider caught with a hidden motor after bike was checked during the 2016 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships.

Recently-elected UCI president David Lappartient has pledged to roll out new and more stringent tests for the 2018 season, with more details due to be unveiled in the new year. On Thursday, Lappartient told Cyclingnews that the UCI will investigate the recent allegation levelled by former US professional Phil Gaimon against Fabian Cancellara.

"I will always voice my concerns about this subject. I want to be sure that nobody is cheating with motors, and that is the job of the UCI, to ensure that this will not be the case. At the end of the year or the beginning of January we will make an announcement about what we will do to enforce the controls from the UCI,” Lappartient told Cyclingnews.

The appointment of Frenchman Peraud appears to be the first step in the UCI's renewed fight against mechanical doping.

From AG2R to the UCI

Peraud won a silver medal in cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then was second in the 2014 Tour de France during his road career. He is a qualified process engineer and has been working in the thermal hydraulics industry since retiring in 2016.

The UCI said his responsibilities would include 'the management of approval procedures for equipment and clothing used in competition, the management of projects concerning the use of new technologies in cycling events, and the fight against technological fraud.'

“Thanks to his solid academic background, his professional career and his experience as a top athlete, he is the ideal person to work, in close collaboration with the UCI Ad hoc Commission, on the modernisation of the current regulations and procedures covering equipment, in particular those concerning the fight against technological fraud,” Lappartient said in a statement confirming Peraud’s appointment.

“This problematic issue is one of my highest priorities. The credibility of sports results hangs on it. A detailed plan of action in this specific area will be revealed next January.”

Peraud said he believes the UCI’s fight against mechanical doping can be improved.

“I wanted to continue working for the sport I love. The challenge I have been offered today fulfils my wish perfectly,” Peraud said.

“I will invest all my energy, and all my knowledge of and expertise in both engineering and the sport of cycling into this role. The UCI already has an effective policy concerning equipment and the fight against technological fraud, but I am convinced that this can still be improved. That is what I will now be working on.”

What is mechanical doping? The UCI officially calls it ‘technological fraud’ and introduced regulations last January that could see a rider given a minimum suspension of six months and huge fines if riders and teams are caught using a hidden motor in their bikes to boost their performance.

The early kinds of motors were rudimentary and hidden in the seat tube but more sophisticated examples based on Formula 1 and Eastern Block military technology apparently involve hidden magnets in wheels which are much more difficult to detect.

The UCI was left embarrassed at their own cyclo-cross World Championships when they discovered a rudimentary motor hidden in the bike of Belgium’s Femke Van den Driessche before the women’s race. She was eventually banned for six years.

The existence of mechanical doping began as a whisper back in 2010 with suggestions of riders using hidden motors in professional races. Fabian Cancellara was at the centre the social media storm after he rode away from Tom Boonen on the steepest part of the Kapelmuur in the Tour of Flanders, leaving the Belgian commentators stunned at the force of his acceleration while seated. Cancellara always angrily denied the accusations. In 2014 and 2015 further suspicions of mechanical doping arose again, with video footage of spinning wheels fuelling the rumours via social media.

In 2016 the French television show Stade 2 and Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera carried out a detailed investigation and claimed that hidden motors had been used in several spring races.

The UCI played down the investigation but was forced to up its controls and also began to use x-rays at the Tour de France. However the suspicions continued to surface with Istvan Varjas, the Hungarian engineer believed to have invented the hidden motor technology, claiming that used mechanical doping had been used in the past and that the technology has developed and improved over the years.

What is mechanical doping? - July 16, 2015

It was the first wide-spread reporting on the technology that some denied existed - tiny motors that could add watts to a rider's pedal stroke. The battery-driven device sits in the bottom bracket area, and helps propel the crank arms around. The rider still needs to pedal, but an assist of even just 50 watts could be a race-winning amount.

UCI denies reports of motorised doping - May 19, 2010

Even UCI President Pat McQuaid denied the technology would be in practical use in the pro peloton.

“We do not have any knowledge if this product is already in use in competitive cycling,” he said at the time. “At this point in time, we don’t have any evidence that leads us to the conclusion that this kind of engine is already in use in the peloton."

Lefevere takes mechanical doping seriously - June 01, 2010

Boonen's Quickstep team manager, on the other hand, took the allegations seriously. "It would be worse than doping,” Lefevere said. “Even pure theft.”

UCI to discuss 'motorised doping' issue - June 02, 2010

Eventually the UCI was forced to consider the possibility, even though McQuaid continued to deny that it would be practical. "They are still not invisible," he said. "All the evidence we're seeing . . . is that the battery is about the size of a bag of sugar."

Team Saxo Bank rejects insinuations of mechanical doping - June 03, 2010

Cancellara's team staunchly defended their rider with an emphatic statement:

"There was not and never has been a motor in any Team Saxo Bank rider's bike," the team wrote. "Fabian's victories are the result of dedication, hard work and sacrifice as well as his unique ability to rise to the occasion when striving to reach his goals. We are confident that the public can see through the nonsense this myth has presented and respect Fabian for what he is. A true Champion."

Boardman warned the UCI of risks of bike doping - June 04, 2010

As the discussions carried on, Chris Boardman chimed in to say he'd warned the UCI about the motors a year before the rumors even started.

"I sat at a meeting with the UCI last year and drew on the blackboard exactly how this might work," Boardman told the Telegraph. "I showed them some of the sophisticated boosting technology now available, mainly from F1 teams, that can get a kilowatt out of a single AAA battery. And don't forget electrically operated gears are legal these days so there is already a power source on many bikes. I think it would be fair to say there was a stunned silence after I said my piece."

Cancellara: My body is my motor - June 11, 2010

Cancellara still maintained that the only engine he has is his body.

UCI to start bike scanning - June 19, 2010

The UCI decided that they should start checking the bikes, beginning with the Tour de France, stating it is “necessary to bolster measures that have already been put in place". In addition to visual inspection, they brought in scanners to check for motors.

UCI check 36 Milan-San Remo bikes for motors - March 23, 2015

Checks continued in the Spring Classics, with 11 bikes from Trek Factory Racing, Etixx-Quickstep and TInkoff-Saxo being examined in a special area set up by the UCI.

UCI introduces new sanctions against motorised doping - April 30, 2015

The UCI set down rules for technological fraud, as they call mechanical doping, giving riders a minimum of six months ban and a fine of between 20,000 and 200,000 Swiss Francs. Teams can also face disqualification, a suspension of at least six months and a fine of between 100,000 and 1 million Swiss Francs.

Contador responds to Cipollini’s doubts about motors and bike changes - May 15, 2015

Giro d'Italia winner Alberto Contador raised suspicions by taking some oddly timed bike changes in the race. With all the rumors swirling around motors, some assumed he was using the swaps to get on a bike with a motor, to which he responded: "The whole thing about motors is a joke, it comes from the world of science fiction. The changes depend on how the stage unfolds, we can use different type of tubulars, bearings or even stiffer wheels. These are solutions that over 30-40km can give a slight advantage. It’s got nothing to do with motors."

Video: UCI checks Alberto Contador's bike for motor - May 29, 2015

UCI officials disassembled Contador's bike and find nothing.

UCI serious about mechanical doping but number of tests remain low - July 25, 2015

The UCI reiterated its seriousness about the issue, but only ran a few checks at the Tour de France.

UCI test Froome, Contador and Pinot bikes on Alpe d'Huez for mechanical doping - July 26, 2016

Cyclingnews got a look inside the testing process, and found that the UCI was not only looking for motors hidden in the frames, but devices in the wheels as well.

LeMond: The UCI should use a heat gun to detect motors - May 29, 2015

Greg LeMond believed the rumors, and gave some practical advice to the UCI: “I know that motors exist, I’ve ridden a bike with one and I’ve met the inventor and talked about it. If people think they don’t exist, they’re fooling themselves, so I think it’s a justified suspicion. I believe it’s also been used in the peloton. It seems too incredible that someone would do it, but I know it’s real. It’s simple to check for, much easier than doping, but not by looking down the tube. You need a thermal heat gun, you can use it in the race. It can see from metres away if there a difference in the heat in the bottom bracket. I’d recommend that to the UCI.”

UCI investigates possible bike fraud at cyclo-cross Worlds - January 30, 2016

The first hint of a motor being found came from the U23 women's race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder, Belgium when the UCI seized Belgian Femke Van den Driessche's bike from the pits.

UCI confirms motorised doping uncovered at cyclo-cross World Championships - January 31, 2016

The UCI confirmed both that a motor had been found in a bike from Van den Driessche's pit area, and that they have been using new detection methods - rumoured to be a tablet app. "To all the people who want to cheat, yesterday we sent a clear message: we will catch you and we will punish you because our technology to detect such fraud seems to work,” UCI president Brian Cookson said.

Froome calls on UCI to increase checks for motors - February 02, 2016

"For the last few years now there have been rumours about motors being concealed within the bikes. It's a concern that I've had, something that I've brought up with the UCI Independent Commission when I sat down with them and said ‘listen, from my point of view there are these rumours, it would be my advice that the UCI implements controls and measures to start checking bikes more regularly'," Froome said.

Wiggins sure motor doping has been going on for some time - February 02, 2016

“For five years now they’ve had this suspicion because they’ve been checking the bikes. I think it is the first one they’ve found, but I’m sure that it has happened in the past, but they haven’t found them."

Electromagnetic wheels are the new frontier of mechanical doping, claims Gazzetta dello Sport - February 01, 2016

The Italians were again at the forefront of news on mechanical doping, stating that motors in frames were old technology.

“A motor hidden in the seat tube is old stuff, almost artisan. It’s been overtaken, it’s a poor man’s doping,” Gazzetta dello Sport's Claudio Ghisalberti wrote. “The new frontier is far more technologically advanced and ten times as expensive. It’s in the rear wheel: it costs 200,000 Euros, and there’s a waiting list of six months. The first type uses a motor to turn the cranks; the second is electromagnetic.”

Mechanical doping and what it means for cycling - Cyclingnews Podcast - February 03, 2016

Mechanical dopers should be heavily punished, says CPA - February 16, 2016

CPA President Gianni Bugno said that mechanical doping is hardly a problem in the pro road peloton, and supported the UCI's efforts. "We are convinced that the UCI is doing its best to improve and refine the controls and we hope there will be a progress, with the cooperation of manufacturers, in order to remove any doubt about the athletes' performances. We, too, within our association, are looking for solutions to make controls the most precise and quick as possible and we know we can count on the full cooperation of the riders," Bugno said.

Read more:

• 139 mechanical doping checks carried out at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• UCI continue checks for mechanical doping at Tirreno-Adriatico - News Shorts
• UCI checks all Tirreno-Adriatico time trial bikes for mechanical doping
• UCI check ten teams for mechanical doping at Paris-Roubaix

Mechanical doping used in Strade Bianche and Coppi e Bartali, claims investigation - April 17, 2016

A joint investigation into mechanical doping by French television programme Stade 2 and Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claimed that the UCI's tablet is ineffective, and purported to have evidence using thermal cameras that there have been motors used in the professional peloton - as recently as Strade Bianche and the Coppi e Bartali. The investigation showed technology that hides motors inside the rims of deep dish carbon wheels.

UCI reacts to criticism in French and Italian media mechanical doping investigation - April 17, 2016

The UCI rejected criticisms that its tablet device is ineffective in detecting motors, stating, "We have looked at thermal imaging, x-ray and ultrasonic testing but by far the most cost effective, reliable and accurate method has proved to be magnetic resonance testing using software we have created in partnership with a company of specialist developers. The scanning is done with a tablet and enables an operator to test the frame and wheels of a bike in less than a minute."

Femke Van den Driessche banned for six years for mechanical doping – April 26

The UCI confirmed that Femke Van den Driessche has been banned for six years for mechanical doping. The ban is backdated to October 11, 2015, and she must also pay a fine of 20,000 Swiss francs.

“This decision follows the discovery of a concealed electric motor in one of the rider’s bikes during checks at the Women Under 23 race of the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in January 2016. The bike concerned was scanned using the new magnetic resonance testing deployed this year by the UCI. This detected the motor whilst the bike was in the rider’s pit area. The motor was a Vivax which was concealed along with a battery in the seat-tube. It was controlled by a Bluetooth switch installed underneath the handlebar tape."

UCI reveals tablet technology used to detect mechanical doping – May 3

The UCI has revealed details of the tablet technology it uses to check for mechanical doping during a special demonstration to selected media, including Cyclingnews, at the UCI Headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland.

UCI Technical Manager Mark Barfield and UCI President Brian Cookson reiterated their belief in the use of the tablet device to detect magnetic flux density of hidden motors or magnetic wheels. The UCI clearly wanted to send out a strong message of deterrent to anyone thinking of using mechanical doping in the sport.

UCI uses x-ray machine to search for mechanical doping at the Tour de France - July 10

The UCI has always insisted that its tablet device is the best way to check for mechanical doping but the sport's governing body begun to use a simple thermal camera during key stages of the Tour de France and is also using X-ray machines to check for hidden motors or special wheels.

Cyclingnews spotted the UCI carrying out X-rays of several bikes after the stage despite the heavy rain and cold conditions. Both of Chris Froome's race bikes were checked using the mobile X-ray set-up, as was Peter Sagan's bike. A UCI official told Cyclingnews that 10 bikes were X-rayed but did not specify who the bikes belonged too.

Brailsford defends Froome after questions about mechanical doping – July 11

Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford hit back at a question hinting that Chris Froome may have gained significant time on his Tour de France rivals because of an increase in testing for mechanical doping.

When a British journalist said that a 'French friend' had suggested to him that extra bike checks – including x-rays – had somehow acted as a deterrent, Brailsford hit back at any kind of Chinese whispers journalism.

"Finding an engine in a bike is a pretty simple thing to do in this day and age," Brailsford said bluntly, raising his voice.
"If your friend is asking about thermal imaging or whatever, tell him to get one himself and come and have a look. Froome's bike has been tested more than everyone else's, we get tested every day. We actually had an email from the UCI saying thank you for being the most cooperative team out of everybody when it comes to bike checks and mechanical checking.

No cases of mechanical doping discovered at Tour de France says UCI – July 27

The UCI confirmed that no cases of mechanical doping were discovered during the Tour de France after 3773 tests were carried out using the famous blue magnetic resistance tablet, with other checks done via thermal imaging in race and with x-rays at the end of a number of key mountain stages.

The UCI claimed that over 10,000 checks have now been carried out in different disciplines and in different gender and age categories. To date, only one case of mechanical doping has been revealed and sanctioned after a rudimentary hidden motor was discovered in one of the bikes of Belgian under 23 rider Femke Van den Driessche at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder in Belgium.

Lance Armstrong denies ever using mechanical doping – October 8

Lance Armstrong has denied ever using a hidden motor in his bike during his professional career, asking interviewer Ger Gilroy of the Irish Off the Ball radio show: "Are you out of your mind? I know its topical but are you crazy?"

Armstrong flatly denied ever using a motor, saying "Absolutely not." He said he knew that motors were a hot topic in the sport after a series of revelations in recent months but claimed that in 1999 nobody even knew it was possible to put a motor in a bicycle.

UCI refutes mechanical doping allegations, Motors in use since 1999? A 'big story' coming soon – October 14

The UCI has refuted claims that it may have obstructed French police in their search for mechanical doping at this year's Tour de France.

Istvan Varjas, the Hungarian engineer believed to have invented the hidden motor technology used for mechanical doping, claimed during a radio interview that he explained how to find hidden motors to French police but that the UCI "refused to allow them to check the bikes".

"This is the scandal - not if they're being used or not used. If there is an organisation that is supposed to stop this problem, and they don't do it, I think they are complicit or something like this," Varjas added.

The Varjas interview with journalist Ger Gilroy of the Irish Off the Ball radio show revived the fear that mechanical doping has long been a problem in the professional peloton. He confirmed that he sold one of the first prototypes of a motor at the end of 1998, under an agreement that he could not talk about or share the technology for 10 years.

"Very soon you will see a big story, I think," he said. "You will see. It's a documentary; it's not a tale. They get all the evidence and witnesses under oath. They made it under oath in America with some people. You will be seeing it very soon. After this comes out I can talk more, but they paid me for exclusivity for this report."

More on this story:

• Mechanical doping inventor says UCI obstructed police attempts to find cheaters at this year's Tour de France - October 13, 2016
• Mechanical doping inventor promises major revelation in January - December 16, 2016
• CBS 60 Minutes investigates mechanical doping in professional cycling - December 28, 2016
• Tour de France to continue thermal imaging checks for mechanical doping - January 17, 2017
• CBS 60 minutes to broadcast investigation into mechanical doping on Sunday - January 27, 2017
• Claims of mechanical doping at the Tour de France in CBS 60 Minutes investigation - January 30, 2017
• Bruyneel blasts LeMond for 'obsession' with Armstrong and mechanical doping - February 8, 2017
• 53-year-old amateur rider caught using hidden motor at Italian race - July 30, 2017
• Italian amateur denies using mechanical doping - July 31, 2017
• Report: Four ways to hide motor doping in a race bike - August 1, 2017
• Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping - September 3, 2017
• UCI's mechanical doping tests called into question - Video - September 4, 2017
• UCI defends mechanical doping testing procedure - September 4, 2017
• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping - October 2, 2017
• French veteran racer defends his use of mechanical doping - October 3, 2017
• Madiot: Lappartient must follow through on mechanical doping promises - October 3, 2017
• Lappartient: I need to be sure there's no mechanical doping - October 20, 2017
• Lappartient pledges more stringent testing against mechanical doping - November 7, 2017
• Gaimon calls Cancellara mechanical doping accusations a 'red herring' - November 8, 2017
• UCI to investigate Gaimon's Cancellara mechanical doping accusations - November 9, 2017

UCI president David Lappartient has said that the governing body will investigate the former professional Phil Gaimon’s claim that Fabian Cancellara used a hidden motor during his career.

Gaimon made the claim in his recently-published book Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While), in which he revisited allegations regarding Cancellara that first surfaced following his victories at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2010. Cancellara has always denied using a hidden motor.

"When you watch the footage, his accelerations don't look natural at all, like he's having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor," Gaimon wrote. He stood by the accusation when contacted for comment on Wednesday.

Speaking to Cyclingnews on Thursday morning, Lappartient said that the UCI would seek more information on the allegation levelled by Gaimon against Cancellara.

"What I would say regarding the case you are speaking about is that I will try to have more information and we will investigate. We will investigate because we need to know exactly what is behind this. Of course, I heard all the rumours, like everybody, and I just want to know exactly. So we will investigate, that is our job," Lappartient said.

"At this level, I cannot say more than this, but I hope that this never happened in professional cycling. If this was the case, it would be a disaster for the image of cycling and that's why we have to fight. I want the people and the fans on the road to be able to trust the result, trust the UCI and trust the controls from our institutions."

More on this story:

• Mechanical doping: a brief history
• Team Saxo Bank rejects insinuations of mechanical doping
• Cancellara: My body is my motor
• UCI introduces new sanctions against motorised doping
• UCI confirms motorised doping uncovered at cyclo-cross World Championships
• 53-year-old amateur rider caught using hidden motor at Italian race
• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping

Despite re-airing the Cancellara allegations in his book, however, Gaimon insisted to Cyclingnews on Wednesday that mechanical doping was no longer an issue in professional cycling and even poured scorn on the emphasis placed by the newly-elected Lappartient on improving testing for technological fraud.

"I do think it happened that year a couple times, but as soon as somebody noticed and it became a story nobody did it again. I think it's an absolute clickbait, red herring – even up to the new UCI president who is acting like it's a big issue that he is going to get to the bottom of. Anyone on the inside knows it's a joke," Gaimon said.

Two amateur riders have been caught using hidden motors in races in 2017, however, while in 2016, Belgian cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche was banned for six years after a motor was discovered in one of her bikes at the World Championships. Reports by outlets including France Télévisions and Il Corriere della Sera have raised concerns that motors have been used in the professional peloton in recent years. In such a context, Lappartient feels that the UCI is compelled to treat the issue of technological fraud with the utmost seriousness.

"I saw some statements from some team managers and riders who said, 'Oh, it's not a problem today in cycling.' Well, I just want to be sure that this is not a problem," Lappartient said. "And they have also to consider that the fans, all of them, are speaking about this. You can see a lot of videos. The team managers and riders are just speaking all together, and even if they don't feel that it is a problem, they have to know what the image of our sport is and the feeling of the fans is.

"I cannot go in a meeting without people asking me about this, so that means it's a subject. It's a subject for those outside the sport, even if it's not a subject for some of them on the inside, so I want everybody to be sure that we will deliver the best tests so that they can trust the results of the races."

The UCI's measures against mechanical doping have come under scrutiny in recent months, with a Stade 2 report demonstrating the apparent ineffectiveness of the tablet scanners that the governing body currently uses to test for motors. Lappartient has pledged to roll out new and more stringent tests for mechanical doping before the start of the 2018 season, with more details due to be unveiled at the turn of the year.

"I was a little bit concerned that the system of the UCI was useful, but not enough," Lappartient said. "I will always voice my concerns about this subject. I want to be sure that nobody is cheating with motors, and that is the job of the UCI, to ensure that this will not be the case. At the end of the year or the beginning of January we will make an announcement about what we will do to enforce the controls from the UCI."

Accusations that Fabian Cancellara resorted to mechanical doping during his career are once more in the news after former pro Phil Gaimon raised doubts about Cancellara's infamous acceleration to drop Tom Boonen on the Kapelmuur in the 2010 Tour of Flanders in his latest book, "Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While)", which was released last month.

Gaimon, in his book, says Cancellara's actions that year raised suspicions even in the pro peloton, with the Swiss star rumoured to have been keeping his own mechanic and his bike separate from the rest of his team.

"When you watch the footage, his accelerations don't look natural at all, like he's having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor," Gaimon wrote in the book.

When reached by Cyclingnews after the passage became inflated on social media and other news outlets, Gaimon told Cyclingnews that the articles circulating about that quote which emphasized his accusation of mechanical doping missed the point.

"I do think it happened that year a couple times, but as soon as somebody noticed and it became a story nobody did it again. I think it's an absolute clickbait, red herring - even up to the new UCI president [David Lappartient] who is acting like it's a big issue that he is going to get to the bottom of. Anyone on the inside knows it's a joke."

More on this story:

• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping
• Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping
• Mechanical doping: A brief history
• Froome: I couldn't start a race if I believed someone was using a motor
• Report: Four ways to hide motor doping in a race bike

Gaimon still contends that Cancellara's accelerations - in particular in his 2008 Milan-Sanremo victory - look unnatural, and that there were rumors of people who were 'in the know' that Cancellara was acting suspicious, but emphasized that it is just his opinion from the angle he was viewing it, and it's a topic that has been discussed ad nauseum.

"I don't feel like it's news," Gaimon said. "My goal [of the book] was to give people new heros and tear down the old heroes. It was always frustrating for me to see the fans - they love Jens [Voigt], Cancellara, the Schlecks, and they don't know who Alex Howes is, and the real people I think deserve admiration didn't get enough. That was something I tried to correct in a way with the book."

He expected some passages of the book to be highlighted by the media, but expressed disappointment that this one was taken in the context that it was.

"I wish they had found a more interesting angle, but the reality is it's clickbait. I do think motor doping happened for a minute with one guy, and everyone else keeps bringing it up."

UCI president David Lappartient has reiterated his pledge to introduce more stringent testing for mechanical doping and intimated that the new measures will be announced before the end of the year.

Lappartient defeated incumbent Brian Cookson in the UCI presidential election in Bergen in September, having made the eradication of mechanical doping one of the cornerstones of his campaign. In the lead-in to the UCI election, a report by France Télévisions and Il Corriere della Sera demonstrated the apparent ineffectiveness of the UCI's current, tablet-based method of testing for mechanical doping.

In an interview with Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Lappartient said that improving the UCI's measures against mechanical doping – or technological fraud – was one of his chief objectives as president.

"There are some priorities: I've said clearly that we'll move before the end of the year on the matter of technological fraud – and we're working on it. We'll soon make known the progress of our work," Lappartient told RTBF.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme welcomed Lappartient's election as UCI president during his keynote speech at the route presentation last month, and again stressed the importance of combating mechanical doping.

"What Christian Prudhomme wants above all is for suspicion to be swept away, and it's normal that he is counting on the authorities to do that," Lappartient said. "It's the role of the Union Cycliste Internationale to guarantee the credibility of the sporting results. That's what's expected of the UCI, and so that's where we have to take action. We will do that and we will be irreproachable in this area."

Belgian under-23 cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche is the only athlete to have been sanctioned by the UCI for technological fraud to date, and she was handed a six-year ban after a motor was discovered in one of her bikes at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships.

In July of this year, a 53-year-old amateur rider was caught using a motor at a race near Brescia in Italy, while a 43-year-old French amateur was found to have used a motor in a race in the Dordogne last month.

As yet, there have been no confirmed cases of mechanical doping at professional level on the road, and Lappartient downplayed the idea that cheats might already be several steps ahead of the testers.

"It seems to me that it is easier to detect technological elements in a bike than to detect a doping product in the human body. You need to have the will," Lappartient said.

"To my mind, it's not about using just one method of testing, but several methods together, and we'll do everything we can. The tablets can be useful, but they're not a silver bullet. We'll need to use other means as well. We're going to work with researchers, universities and industry to develop new methods of testing."

UCI President David Lappartient has pledged to restore cycling's credibility in relation to the issue of mechanical doping. Only one elite rider has been caught using a motor since test were first introduced in 2016 but question marks remain over the robustness of the current testing protocol and the UCI's previous determination to handle the matter.

Lappartient, who was elected to the presidency in September, made the elimination of mechanical doping one of the cornerstones of his manifesto. He has promised to outline his plans for the future by the end of the year before rolling out a new programme to detect motors from the start of 2018.

"I want to say that I hope that [ed. mechanical doping] is not something that we have today in the professional peloton, but I need to be sure. I really want to be sure," Lappartient told Cyclingnews.

"We need to avoid any suspicion that we have it in our sport. It's really bad for our image, and people are asking 'are they using this technology or not?' I want us to be sure, and I want people to trust the credibility of the UCI and I want people to know that we're doing our best and checking in the most professional way. I want people to trust in the results of racing. This is what we have to deliver."

Lappartient was speaking at the presentation of the 2018 Tour de France route in Paris on Tuesday. It was one of his first public appearances since beating Brian Cookson in the UCI election by a vote of 37-8.

Less than a month after the election, a French amateur rider was caught using a motor in his bike at a local race. The episode highlighted that mechanical doping had spread to all levels of racing. Lappartient has suggested that testing at events and races will become more robust in 2018, with heat guns working alongside the criticised UCI tablets.

"The scale of this is really big. The UCI concentrates on the top level but we have to understand that we can have the same problem at all levels, even at mass participation events. It's a disaster to see a guy at this low level using this kind of technology just to get his name in the newspaper.

"I said during my campaign that it was a major point for the UCI and today Mr Prudhomme, organiser of the Tour de France, asked the UCI to work on this, and the credibility as we strive against technological fraud. As I said, we'll be ready for the next season and during the winter we'll make some announcement on this, probably at the beginning of December."

Since winning the presidential election Lappartient has spent the majority of his time at the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland. The Frenchman has used that time to organise his new regime but has not made any large scale changes as he continues to find his feet.

"It's gone quite well but I know that I need to be involved in everything," he said.

"Being the president is not the same as being the vice-president. I spent the first four weeks at the headquarters of the UCI because the idea was that I wouldn't travel that much at the start. I wanted to be involved in the everyday business and really understand the way it works.

"I made some changes but we've a good staff at the UCI. The plan isn't to remove and change completely. Before changing things it's important to understand how things work from the inside and then use my own judgement. A lot of people have come to me and said, 'you've got to change this, you've got to change that,' but sorry, I want to have my own points of view and then make the right decisions."

Long-standing FDJ team manager Marc Madiot believes hidden motors have been used in the professional peloton in the past, citing bike changes as possible evidence. Even if he doubts they are currently in use, he joined the French Cycling Federation (FFC) president this week in calling on the UCI to do more to catch potential cheats.

Mechanical doping has hit the headlines once again this week after a 43-year-old amateur French rider was caught with a motor hidden in his seat tube at a race in the Dordogne region of France. He is the second veteran rider to be caught this year. The discovery of a motor in the bike of Femke van den Driessche at the 2016 cyclo-cross World Championships first triggered increased urgency in the fight against what the UCI terms 'technological fraud'.

FDJ manager Madiot, a former pro and current head of the Ligue Nationale de Cyclisme, spoke about the case in an interview with French newspaper, Le Parisien. 

"It's pathetic. In my opinion, what he's doing is not profitable. All that to win two sausages and three packets of crisps…I don't see the point," he argued.

In the pro ranks, however, there is significantly more to gain, even if there is more to lose.

"In those [amateur] categories, there have surely been other cases. In the pros, too – though I don't think anymore," he said. "There was a blurry period where no one believed in the existence of it – and it was therefore easier to use it. From the moment there were doubts, as if by coincidence we saw fewer and fewer bike changes."

The latest case of the 43-year-old Frenchman caught at the race on Sunday came after an investigation from French police and the French anti-doping agency, with regional anti-doping counselor and former pro Christophe Bassons playing a key role in pursuing the rider. 

Madiot welcomed the police presence, arguing that "it shows we're not messing around anymore".

It's an attitude on which David Lappartient struck during his successful election campaign for the UCI presidency. Before defeating incumbent Brian Cookson in convincing fashion last month, Lappartient promised to get tough on mechanical doping, arguing that the UCI's existing tablet device – the effectiveness of which has been called into question by a recent Stage 2 documentary – is not sufficient.

Madiot said he wasn't pessimistic about the threat to the sport posed by mechanical doping, but urged Lappartient to follow through on his promises.

"I'm not overly worried about it," he said. "In the pros, we must have the means to carry out proper inspections. David Lappartient is on the case. This must not just be an electoral promise. It's relatively easy to regulate, but it seems essential to me to train commissaires for these inspections. It must become a true occupation."

'What's at stake is the credibility and future of the sport'

Madiot's words echoed those of French Cycling Federation president Michel Callot, who issued a formal statement in the aftermath of Sunday's incident.

"Thanks to the investigatory powers of the judicial authorities, this operation has been a success, which the FFC can only be pleased with," he said. "Unfortunately, the result of this operation only confirms what was feared with regards to this type of fraud in the amateur ranks, which constitutes a true insult to our sport and to all those competing honestly."

The FFC pointed to the steps it has taken in the fight against mechanical doping – which include the use of thermal imaging cameras, bike inspections, and police involvement – but said a more coherent and comprehensive plan of attack needs to be drawn up.

"This confirmed instance of technological fraud only reinforces the FFC resolve to develop this type of action throughout our regions. Therefore, the FFC will rapidly put in face a consultation process with a view to establishing a plan of action. The FFC reckons that these actions must, as quickly as possible, be accompanied by other means of controls linked to the development of reliable and efficient technical solutions.

"The FFC, conscious that it cannot fight this major risk of fraud alone, calls on both the Department for Sport and the UCI in order to join together in devising a major plan of action that will allow us to fight against technological fraud, in top-level races but also – and maybe even as more of a priority – in the amateur ranks.

"What's at stake," Callot concluded, "is the credibility and future of the sport."

The French veteran racer caught with a rudimentary form of mechanical doping at a local race in the Dordogne region has played down the seriousness of his cheating, claiming he decided to cheat after suffering with a sciatic nerve problem in his right leg.

French police seized the bike and the veteran rider was questioned on Sunday following a race in Saint-Michel-de-Double, near Bordeaux. He was competing in a race for veterans and juniors, with just 16 riders in action.

"I tried and I lost," the 43 year-old told radio station France Bleu.

"I don't sell drugs and I didn't kill a child, I put a motor in my bike. I'll serve as an example but I think it will do good to cycling because I am not the only one doing it."

According to L'Equipe, who revealed the identity of the rider and attended a press conference held by police in Perigueux, the veteran used the bike fitted with a hidden motor five times in recent weeks, earning around €500 in prize money thanks to his success. He reportedly bought the rudimentary downtube motor from a French website and fitted it to a frame bought online from China. He suggested that the French site sells between twenty and thirty motors a month.

L'Equipe reports that the rider told public prosecutor Jean-Francois Mailhes that he used mechanical doping to “compete equally” with his local rivals, suggesting that some of them use "various methods of doping".

"I did it because I've suffered with a herniated disc since March and I didn't ride my bike for three months. I tried to compete again but I had trouble because of sciatica in the right leg, I did it to have less trouble at the end of the race," France Bleu reports the veteran, who works as a wall plasterer, as saying.

"I didn't want to be a champion of the Dordogne, to win all the races, it was just to feel good again. I am at the end of my career, I do not want to compete any more. I want to enjoy life, my wife and of my daughter on weekends."

The veteran was placed under investigation by French police and could be charged with sporting fraud due to the prize money he earned while using the mechanical doping in his bike. He is also facing a lengthy ban from competition.

More on this story:

• French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping
• Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping
• Mechanical doping: A brief history
• Froome: I couldn't start a race if I believed someone was using a motor

Bassons blocks his escape

He was caught after a tip off from other riders, with police and representatives from the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), including former professional rider Christophe Bassons, involved in discovering the hidden motor. Bassons actually drove after the veteran and blocked his escape when he quit the race early. Bassons is famous for his stance against doping in the peloton in the nineties and for being bullied by Lance Armstrong when he spoke out.

"I'll serve as an example but I think it'll be good for cycling because I am not the only one doing it," the veteran rider argued to France Bleu. "If it can allow young kids who want to win not to be beaten by people who use this cheat, then so much the better."

This is the second reported case of mechanical doping among veteran racers this year. An Italian rider was caught in the summer with a similar, rudimentary device in a race near Brescia.

Belgian cyclo-cross racer Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a hidden motor in a bike at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships. She was subsequently banned for six years.

New UCI President David Lappartient has promised a crackdown on mechanical doping after doubts were raised about the efficiency of the UCI's magnetic tablets. He said that heat guns and x-rays will be used alongside the UCI's tablet device at future professional races.

The first case of mechanical doping in France has reportedly been discovered after a 43-year-old veteran racer from the Dordogne area was caught, following a tip-off and investigation by French police and the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).

The rider has not been named, but his bike was seized and he was questioned by police. He reportedly admitted cheating when stopped after a race in Saint-Michel-de-Double, in the Dordogne region near Bordeaux.

It seems the AFLD had been monitoring the rider after a series of strong performances and a 'striking' climbing ability, with regional anti-doping counsellor and former professional rider Christophe Bassons playing a key role in stopping the rider escaping during Sunday's investigation.

According to a report by French journalist Thierry Vildary, who has led a series of investigations into mechanical doping and who was with investigators when the rider was caught, the mechanical doping consisted of a rudimentary 250-watt Vivax motor hidden in the seat tube that drives the bottom bracket.

Vildary believes that more technologically advanced forms of mechanical doping have been used in professional races and has questioned the UCI's use of a magnetic tablet device as an effective method of detection.

Vildary and a camera crew filmed the French veteran rider while he was on the attack with junior rider Mathys Fedrigo – the nephew of former professional rider, Pierrick Fedrigo. The rider then quit the race with a puncture, apparently worried about the number of spectators at the local race. Bassons eventually caught up with him and demanded to see the bike.

"He seemed surprised and then when I took out the bidon on the downtube, I saw the electrical wires," Bassons said, according to L'Equipe.

The veteran rider's bike was reportedly seized by local gendarmes and was stripped down to reveal the full extent of the hidden motor. He reportedly admitted to cheating. Under French law, the rider could be prosecuted for sporting fraud, with French police keen to know how much prize money he had earned in recent races. If found guilty of mechanical doping he faces a lengthy ban from the sport.

This is the second reported case of mechanical doping among veteran racers this year. An Italian rider was caught in the summer with a similar, rudimentary device in a race near Brescia. Belgian cyclo-cross racer Femke van den Driessche was caught with a hidden motor in a bike at the 2016 cyclo-cross World Championships. She was banned for six years.

New UCI President David Lappartient has promised a crackdown on mechanical doping after doubts were raised about the efficiency of the UCI's magnetic tablets. He said that heat guns and x-rays will be used alongside the UCI's tablet device at future professional races.

"My fear is that we'll find a lot of this kind of cheating in the amateur ranks because the technology is becoming accessible and we don't have the same means of detection as in professional cycling," French Cycling Federation president Michel Callot said. 

Premier contrôle d'un vélo équipé d'un moteur lors d'une course locale en France ! #cyclisme #twittcyclos pic.twitter.com/9U4ezQYhFp

The UCI has responded to accusations that its tablet device struggles to detect the latest forms of mechanical doping and may throw up false positives by claiming the simple technique of magnetic resistance scanning using a tablet device has "proved to be highly effective both in tests and in actual use".

The UCI claimed that "all stakeholders in cycling have a common interest to demonstrate that cheating has no place in our sport", and provided an email address for anyone to supply information about possible mechanical doping.

The effectiveness of the UCI's tablet device has been doubted by another investigation from the French Stade 2 television show, with help from German television channel ARD and Italian journalist Marco Bonarrigo who writes for the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Stade 2 also revealed that the UCI's tablet application was created by a tiny start-up company based in Britain, called Endoscope-i, which was created on the back of an iPhone app that works as an endoscope.

A political issue

The suspicions of mechanical doping have become a political issue because of the UCI presidential elections scheduled for September 21 at this year's World Championships. French candidate David Lappartient, who has been the UCI vice-president alongside Brian Cookson for the last four years, was interviewed for Sunday's Stade 2 show and called for multiple techniques such as x-rays and heat guns and the dismantling of bikes to be used alongside the tablet device to search for hidden mechanical doping.

The UCI responded to the latest accusations by pointing out that Cookson introduced the rules against what is officially called 'technological fraud' during his first term as president.

The rules and lengthy bans came into force a few months before a hidden motor was discovered in the bike of Belgian rider Femke Van Den Driessche at the 2016 cyclo-cross World Championships. More recently, a similar hidden motor was discovered in the bike of an Italian veteran racer competing in an age-related race in Brescia. However, there have been several reports that far more sophisticated electro-magnetic wheels have been used in the professional peloton. Stade 2 accused the UCI of being unable to detect the so-called 'magic wheels'.

In its statement the UCI did not specifically respond to questions about the failure of the tablet device to find the electro-magnetic wheels, claiming it has "analysed many alternative forms of detection" to "ensure a varied testing protocol".

Responding to Stade 2

The UCI suggested that "people using our device in Sunday's Stade 2 report had had no training". That is true because the UCI has always refused to allow anyone to study the tablet device in detail. A simple demonstration was held in the spring of 2016 but the UCI has always been defensive of its technology and techniques and rebuffed questioning.

An independent report by the US-based Microbac laboratory highlighted that the positioning of the tablet device when searching for mechanical doping was vital, with an optimum distance of 10mm from the frame. Stade 2's tests showed that the there was a reaction from the tablet when passing over metallic parts of the bike, with closer and longer scans needed to provide a clear indication of a hidden motor. However, their documentary showed footage of UCI checks being carried out at races where the scanner was being moved rapidly and the checks completed in just a few seconds.

The UCI has always defended the use of the tablet device due to its ease and speed of use at races.

"Our training always emphasises that the scanner is for initial controls and that bikes must be dismantled should any suspicion of the presence of a motor or any other hidden device be indicated," the UCI press release states.

"The UCI has of course analysed many alternative forms of detection, and indeed continues to make use of alternative methods in combination with magnetic resistance scanners to ensure a varied testing protocol. However, all alternative forms are not suitable to be the main or exclusive form of detection.

"Thermal imaging has been used on a number of occasions and can be useful, but is limited as it would only detect a motor when in use, or shortly after use when a motor is warm. We also occasionally use X-ray, but this is relatively slow, requires a great deal of space to ensure public safety, and is subject to widely varying legislation from country to country.

"We continue to work with our partners to ensure we keep up to date with developments in this area and are grateful to the many people and organisations who have helped us develop a highly effective suite of controls and the associated rules and sanctions for potential infringements.

"We remain committed to this work and welcome all input and suggestions as to how this can be developed further. All stakeholders in cycling have a common interest to demonstrate that cheating has no place in our sport. If anyone believes they have information that we should be aware of, we ask them to please contact us at materiel@uci.ch."

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) had seen enough at the Vuelta a España to feel he might yet be able to discommode Chris Froome (Team Sky) at Sierra Nevada on Sunday. But after attacking on the long final haul towards the finish, his day ended in dispiriting fashion as he lost another six seconds to the red jersey. As the Vuelta breaks for its second rest day, Nibali finds himself second overall, 1:01 behind Froome.

Isolating Froome from his Team Sky teammates may be a logical plan of attack for a man trying to win the Vuelta but one that's proving easier said than done.

After watching stage winner Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) forge clear on the Alto del Purche, Nibali held his fire for the final climb towards the finish at Sierra Nevada, attacking from the red jersey group with a shade under 14 kilometres remaining.

Nibali opened a gap of around 50 metres over the group of podium contenders, but never disappeared out of sight as Mikel Nieve and Wout Poels set a brisk tempo on behalf of Froome. After a couple of kilometres, he relented and was reabsorbed by the group. He explained afterwards that he had been hoping for some company on the raid.

"I never really pushed flat out because I was hoping [Ilnur] Zakarin or [Wilco] Kelderman would come with me," Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "The speed was high, Sky were still together, and I was caught a bit between a rock and a hard place. Continuing alone would have been a suicidal tactic because in this moment, Sky and Froome are unbeatable. For now, that's how it is, but nobody is ever unbeatable.

"This was a short stage, very fast and a bit strange. The climb didn't really have very steep gradients. But the Vuelta isn't finished. I'll fight on."

The 40km time trial

The Vuelta resumes with a 40-kilometre time trial in Logroño on Tuesday, when Froome will be expected to buttress his lead still further.

Nibali will aim to limit his losses and his recent record against the watch is underwhelming. His sixth place in the Montefalco time trial at May's Giro d'Italia is, remarkably, the only occasion he has finished in the top 10 of an individual time trial since the penultimate stage of his victorious 2014 Tour de France.

"It's more in Chris' favour but I've always defended myself well," Nibali said of Tuesday's test in Logroño.

The Sicilian was reluctant to assess his precise chances of overall victory, but acknowledged that the collective strength of Froome's Sky team, which has replicated its Tour de France dominance, albeit with a very different roster, only complicates the task.

"I don't know, there are a lot of variables so it's difficult to give a percentage," he said. "It was a 'Super Sky' that made the difference here. They had three men controlling everything on the last climb: Moscon, Nieve and Poels brought Froome to the last 500 metres."

Mechanical doping

Beyond the Vuelta, Sunday brought uncomfortable questions for the UCI about the effectiveness of its testing to combat mechanical doping in the form of reports by Il Corriere della Sera and the French sports programme Stade 2.

Their investigation, carried out in collaboration with German broadcaster ARD, suggested that the tablet device currently used by the UCI to test for hidden motors is not capable of finding the latest generation of technological fraud, and threw up so-called 'false positives' when looking for more rudimentary motors.

Although no hidden motors have yet been revealed in the professional peloton by the UCI's testing – under-23 cyclo-cross rider Femke Van Den Driessche is the only rider to have been formally sanctioned by the governing body to date – Nibali felt that testing for mechanical doping was justified. He also also welcomed journalistic investigations into the prevalence of mechanical doping in the peloton.

"If the controls are being carried out, it's because there are some doubts. I don't have the knowledge to say whether these testing systems work or not, but I'm in favour of testing," Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Indeed, I believe that you journalists with your inquiries can also play a very important part. You're very useful."

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The Stade 2 television programme has revealed further details and expressed fresh doubts about the effectiveness of the UCI's tablet device for detecting mechanical doping, revealing that the tablet works on simple ferromagnetic principals, which can often lead to false positives caused by other metallic components of a bicycle, and yet fails to detect the latest form of electro-magnetic mechanical doping hidden in wheels.

Stade 2, working with German television channel ARD and the Italian journalist Marco Bonarrigo, who writes for Il Corriere della Sera, discovered that the tablet device used by the UCI was created by a start-up company based in Britain called Endoscope-i, which was created on the back of iPhone app that works as an endoscope. The company has no experience in cycling.

In the latest investigation, the team of journalists managed to procure one of the UCI tablet devices and had it x-rayed and studied by the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-destructive Testing in Saarbrucken, Germany.

They suggested it is simply an iPad mini with a tiny magnet attached to the blue casing to create a magnetic field. They were surprised to discover that the tablet can only discover ferromagnetic materials, with wheel axles flashing up with the same intensity as a hidden motor in a seat tube. One engineer from the Fraunhofer Institute showed how a simple iPhone app can also detect ferromagnetic materials behind a layer of carbon fibre. The UCI apparently charge national federations several thousand Euro for the tablet device and expert training.

Hungarian engineer Stefano Varjas was again involved in the Stade 2 investigation. He showed off the latest version of his so called 'magic wheel', which does not depend on a hidden motor in the down tube but has a hidden battery in the hub, with the wheel turned by an electro-magnetic booster.

It has been suggested by La Gazzetta dello Sport and others that similar kind of wheels – which cost at least 20,000 Euro – may be have been used in professional races, giving riders a boost in power that can make a significant difference during key moments of races.

Stade 2 started its report by showing images of a number of bike changes during this year's Tour de France, claiming they spark questions despite the UCI never discovering a case of mechanical doping in the professional ranks.

The report highlighted that the UCI has carried out 40,000 tests since the introduction of the device in 2016, including 4,000 tests at this year's Tour de France. However, the UCI testers have only rarely insisted on team mechanics taking out the chainset, and only quickly look inside for a hidden motor. The UCI carried out a limited number of x-ray tests during the 2016 Tour de France but have always stood by the validity of their tablet device, even inviting the media to a special presentation in May 2016.

Stade 2, however, suggests that the UCI tablet is unable to detect mechanical doping in wheels.

"If there's a motor that is more or less designed, and specifically if it is less designed, then you can detect it but a smart designed motor is hard to detect," Professor Bernd Valeske of the Fraunhofer Institute told Stade 2 after studying the device.

"Even if these tools [the tablet – ed.] work, the principle itself is not the best way to detect motors. It's a basic tool and a first idea but it's obviously not sufficient. You need a collaboration between different techniques to be sure there are no hidden motors or hidden features."

The UCI refused to give an interview to Stade 2 concerning the latest discoveries but provided information from Microbac Laboratories, a US-based independent testing facility, that claimed the UCI tablet can detect mechanical doping in the downtube under certain conditions, though they confirmed that the device also detected a number of false positives. Data from Microbac suggested that one in three detections of ferromagnetic signals were false positives.

The UCI refused to confirm Endescope-i as the supplier of the tablet device, or give details of the contract between the UCI and the company and explain how Endescope-i was chosen. A UCI statement shown by Stade 2 claimed the company "is specialised in medical applications development offering scanning and research solutions. It's a small one but start-up expert in its field with teams highly qualified in software development, mechanical and electrical engineering and in robotics."

Stade 2 discovered that the company was created around an iPhone attachment that works as a video ear endoscope. Stade 2 travelled to Birmingham to meet the founders and discovered that Endescope-i has no full-time employees or offices. The four partners are two doctors, an engineer and a software developer. Their biggest contract is with the UCI despite not having any previous experience in cycling or magnetic detection systems. Endescope-i refused to answer questions from Stade 2 or fully explain how the tablet works. 

Fresh doubts have been cast upon the effectiveness of the UCI's testing for mechanical doping after reporters from Il Corriere della Sera, France 2 and German television station ARD had one of the governing body’s tablet scanners analysed at a laboratory in Germany.

The UCI has been using tablets to test bikes since 2016, and demonstrated the technology at a presentation in Aigle, Switzerland, in May 2016, where it was claimed that the device could detect magnetic flux density of hidden motors or magnetic wheels. 

The UCI is estimated to have carried out 42,500 tests using its tablet over the past two years, but the device has yet to uncover any instance of mechanical doping. The governing body has encouraged national federations to purchase the device.

Il Corriere della Sera managed to procure one of the UCI scanners, and found that it consisted of an Apple iPad mini equipped with a magnet that serves as an antenna, as well as software developed by a company called Endoscope-i, based in Birmingham. The products listed on the British company's website are iPhone adapters for use in ear, nose and throat endoscopy.

Il Corriere, France 2 and ARD brought the device to the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing in Saarbrucken, Germany, where vice-director Bernd Valeske gauged its efficacy.

Valeske first used the tablet to scan a bike equipped with a rudimentary motor of the kind discovered in the bike of Femke Van Den Driessche at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships. Van Den Driessche is to date the only rider to have been sanctioned for mechanical doping – or technological fraud, as the UCI prefers it to be called.

While the UCI tablet duly detected the magnetic field around the hidden motor, it also detected similar magnetic fields in three other places on the bike where there was no hidden motor. Such 'false positives' would ordinarily call for the dismantling of the bike for further inspection, but one WorldTour mechanic told Il Corriere della Sera that he has never seen UCI testers do anything more than swipe an iPad against the bikes in his care.

"We must have undergone over 2,000 tests, and not once have the inspectors asked for a second test or for a bike to be taken apart for further inspection," the mechanic said.

Valeske and his team proceeded to use the UCI tablet device to scan a bike equipped with an electromagnetic induction wheel. This is reputedly the latest generation of mechanical doping, and a wheel equipped with the technology is reported to cost over €20,000. The tablet failed to detect any magnetic field whatsoever around the wheel, but when the wheel was passed through an X-ray scanner, the induction motor was clearly visible.

"The wheel is 'perfectly clean', at least for the tablet. However, the X-rays instead show the induction plates and the transmission cables, perfectly hidden by carbon," wrote Marco Bonarrigo of Il Corriere della Sera. "The wheel that transforms the bike into a motorbike is, for the UCI controls, a piece of inert fibre."

The article in Il Corriere precedes Sunday afternoon's edition of the Stade 2 magazine show on France 2, which will include a report on the investigation and will feature footage from the testing at the Fraunhofer Institute.

The French television programme has reported extensively on mechanical doping in recent years. In June 2016, Stade 2 reported that UCI technical director Mark Barfield had alerted Harry Gibbings of the e-bike manufacturer Typhoon about a police investigation into the use of hidden motors on the 2015 Tour de France. The UCI said that it had "full confidence in its staff employed in this area" and Barfield remains in place as technical director.

David Lappartient, who is challenging Brian Cookson at this month's UCI presidential election in Bergen, has pledged to improve testing for technological fraud by using X-ray scanners and thermal cameras, and by disassembling bikes to allow for more thorough testing.

La Gazzetta dello Sport has revealed further details on the case of alleged mechanical doping at a veterans race in Italy, confirming that the bike is a counterfeit copy of an Argon 18 model, and revealing the four ways that it is possible to obtain and hide a motor in a race bike.

The Italian sports newspaper obtained a photo of the bike with the alleged motor hidden inside, matching the attached race number with that of the 53 year-old Brescia tiler Alessandro Andreoli.

The bike appears to be an Argon 18 as used by the Astana team. However after carefully studying the shapes of the rear triangle and headset, the Canadian brand confirmed to La Gazzetta dello Sport that the bike was a counterfeit that had been fitted with Argon 18 decals. Argon 18 intimated it would take legal action.

"Argon 18 is a worldwide company with a proud history and we work hard every day to produce quality products that are sold worldwide. To safeguard the good name of our company we will take any necessary legal action against the athlete and anyone responsible for this very serious matter," Gervais Rioux, founder and president of Argon 18 Bikes said in a statement published by several Italian media.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Andreoli, who was caught with the bike on Saturday after organisers used a heat gun, claimed he bought the bike from someone in Tuscany who he had met out on the road.

"I don't remember his name or his phone number. We met out on the road, I liked the bike, he asked a great price and so I bought it," Andreoli told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Italian newspaper suggests that the Tuscan coast is one of the hot spots for the sale of bikes fitted with hidden motors, with a former professional licence holder reportedly acting as a dealer with one of the leading producers of mechanical doping devices from eastern Europe.

Four ways to hide mechanical doping in a race bike

La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests there are four ways to ensure a mechanical doping device is hidden in a bike: Buy a bike that has been made to contain a hidden motor; adapt your own bike by carefully cutting the carbon fibre structure in the bottom bracket; adapt a stolen bike; or buy a counterfeit frame made in Asia that has been designed to host a hidden motor. It seems that these bikes even include a space in the down tube to help divert a video probe and so avoid detection.

Andreoli denied any wrong doing in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, suggesting that whoever tipped-off the race organiser is envious of his success and personal income.

"They wanted to control my bike, the judges kept it for an hour and a half while I was getting changed, I had things to do. Who knows what they did. They claim there was a hidden motor but they didn't find anything, the wheels didn't turn," he said.

"They say I had a hidden motor. If it's true then the riders who finished with me had motors too. I've seen a lot of people finish ahead of me without them suffering.

"I had to go to a wedding and it was getting late. I didn't admit anything. They looked for the buttons but didn't find anything, the only buttons I have are to change gears."

Andreoli's local team has denied any involvement and has suggested it will also take legal action. La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that Italian police will also investigate, with Andreoli facing a disciplinary hearing a long ban from racing.

The 53 year-old Italian rider reportedly caught with a hidden motor in his bike on Saturday has denied any wrongdoing, claiming he recently started to do well in local age-related races after resolving a back problem.

Alessandro Andreoli made a series of wild claims in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, which broke the news of the case on Sunday. Andreoli claimed that his rivals may have tipped off race organisers because he had managed to beat them and because of his wealthy lifestyle. He refused to go to a specialist mechanic to have the bike dismantled after being caught, claiming he had to go to a wedding.

According to several reports in Italy, the hidden motor was detected after the race organiser used a thermal camera to scan suspicious bikes. The race was organised under the auspices of the Centro Sportivo Italiano, an amateur sports body affiliated to the Italian Olympic Committee. Emiliano Scalfi, the vice-president of the CSI in the province of Brescia, intimated that the body had acted on a tip-off and decided to deploy an expensive heat gun provided by a local businessman and cycling fan.

"We had some precise information and we proceeded accordingly," Scalfi La Gazzetta dello Sport. "When we looked, we saw that in the seat tube of one rider it looked as though there was a fire."

Andreoli finished third in the race and was asked to bring his bike to the commissaires for further inspection. They offered to take the biker to a specialist for it to be dismantled but Andreoli refused and reportedly admitted to using mechanical doping.

He backtracked on reports of a confession when speaking to Monday's La Gazzetta dello Sport. Another report on Corriere.it, claimed Andreoli said he would suspend himself from racing until formal investigation and eventual trial is held.

"They wanted to control my bike, the judges kept it for an hour and a half while I was getting changed, I had things to do. Who knows what they did. They claim there was a hidden motor but they didn't find anything, the wheels didn't turn," the Italian sports newspaper reports Andreoli as saying.

"They say I had a hidden motor. If it's true then the riders who finished with me had motors too. I've seen a lot of people finish ahead of me without them suffering.

"I had to go to a wedding and it was getting late. I didn't admit anything. They looked for the buttons but didn't find anything, the only buttons I have are to change gears."

La Gazzetta dello Sport published a photo of the alleged bike, suggesting a motor was hidden in the down tube, with a bulge under the right-hand brake lever covering the button which activated the motor. The bike has race number 891. Andreoli confirmed that was his number for Saturday's event.

Andreoli claimed he had bought the bike from someone in Tuscany while on holiday. He has reportedly won several races this season after rarely being in the results. He suggested that his rivals who tipped off the race organisers were simply envious.

"I don't remember his name or his phone number. We met out on the road, I liked the bike, he asked a great price and so I bought it," Andreoli said.

"I had a back problem and couldn't move. I've solved the problem and I've been training well. It seems I've annoyed someone. They're envious of my excellent lifestyle. I've been a tiler for a long time and earn a lot."

The incident is the second confirmed instance of mechanical doping – or technological fraud, as the UCI rulebook calls it – in a race after Femke Van Den Driessche was discovered to have had a bike containing a motor at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships. Van Den Driessche was later banned for six years and fined 20,000 Swiss Francs by the UCI.

Reports over the past three years have suggested that the mechanical doping technology has grown ever more sophisticated, with a difficult to detect magnetic systems now capable of being hidden in rear wheels. A Stade 2 report last year suggested that the technology had been used in the professional peloton, though as yet no top-level rider has been found guilty of technological fraud.

The UCI's current bike testing regimen includes the scanning of frames and wheels with an iPad app, but no cases of mechanical doping have been detected. On the past two Tours de France, a motorbike with a thermal imaging camera has been occasionally deployed, but no instances of mechanical doping were reported.

A 53-year-old Italian amateur cyclist was caught using a hidden motor at an event in Bedizzole, near Brescia on Saturday. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the motor was detected after the organiser used a thermal camera during the event to scan suspicious bikes.

The race was organised under the auspices of the Centro Sportivo Italiano, an amateur sports body affiliated to the Italian Olympic Committee. Emiliano Scalfi, the vice-president of the CSI in the province of Brescia, intimated that the body had acted on a tip-off and decided to deploy a heat gun.

"We had some precise information and we proceeded accordingly," Scalfi told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "When we looked, we saw that in the seat tube of one rider it looked as though there was a fire."

The rider in question placed third in the race, and after the event, he was asked to bring his bike – an Argon 18, according to La Gazzetta – to the commissaires for further inspection.

"We invited the rider to go with two commissaires to an authorised centre to check the bike, but at that point, he admitted his guilt," Scalfi said. "Inside the bike, he had a motor."

The incident is the second confirmed instance of mechanical doping – or technological fraud, as the UCI rulebook calls it – in a race after Femke Van Den Driessche was discovered to have had a bike containing a motor at the 2016 Cyclo-cross World Championships. Van Den Driessche was later banned for six years and fined 20,000 Swiss Francs by the UCI.

As in the Van Den Driessche case, the motor discovered on Saturday was hidden in the seat tube of the rider's bike. Reports over the past three years have suggested that the technology has grown ever more sophisticated, however, with powerful motors now capable of being hidden in rear wheels. A Stade 2 report last year suggested that the technology had been used in the professional peloton, though as yet, no top-level rider has been found guilty of technological fraud.

The UCI's current bike testing regimen includes the scanning of frames and wheels with an iPad app, but no cases of mechanical doping have been detected. On the past two Tours de France, a motorbike bearing a thermal imaging camera was occasionally deployed, but no instances of mechanical doping were reported.

Johan Bruyneel has poured scorn on Greg LeMond over his involvement in recent investigations into mechanical doping, labeling the American an 'asshole' and arguing that he has an unnatural obsession with tarnishing the reputation of Lance Armstrong.

In an interview with the Belgian magazine Humo, Bruyneel, who was Armstrong's former directeur sportif at the US Postal team, likened detractors of Armstrong to a "sect", asserting that "they can keep trying until the year 3000 – they're not going to find mechanical doping."

It is no secret that LeMond and his wife, Kathy, hardly see eye to eye with Armstrong, and both have been outspoken about the existence of motorised cheating, even working secretly with French police in 2014. They were two key interviewees on the CBS 60 Minutes investigation, which aired at the end of last month and featured claims that motors had been used in bikes at the Tour de France.

The spotlight turned on Armstrong when the programme makers bought an old US Postal team bike from 1999 and fitted it with a motor, which was then tested by Tyler Hamilton. Hungarian engineer Istvan Varjas also repeated his assertions that the technology has existed since 1998 and that, in an exclusive deal, he was paid $2 million not to talk about or further develop his motors for a period of 10 years.

"I don't know what it is that's up with LeMond. It's not normal to be so obsessed with Armstrong," said Bruyneel, who is currently serving a 10-year ban for his involvement in doping.

"He has realised that people are less and less outraged by Lance, because it has become clear that he was only one of many who were doping, and that's why LeMond is now looking for something new with which to tarnish his name. But he's not going to manage it. They can keep trying until the year 3000 – they're not going to find mechanical doping.

"It seems strange that LeMond travelled to the Tour de France with his wife to investigate mechanical doping with the French police – like he was on some sort of mission. They have prepared all of this. They've tried to manipulate everything to spread suspicion about Lance once again."

At the Tour de France last year, LeMond was asked by French newspaper L'Equipe if he was 'obsessed' with Armstrong and responded: "If I have this fascination on Armstrong, it was because he was abusing people, he threatened them, and I like neither cynicism nor the abuse of power."

More on this:

• Mechanical doping: A brief history
• CBS 60 Minutes investigates mechanical doping in professional cycling
• Lance Armstrong denies ever using mechanical doping
• UCI refute Tour de France mechanical doping allegations
• UCI uses X-ray machine to search for mechanical doping at the Tour de France

Bruyneel acknowledged that it was possible that mechanical doping had been used by a minority, but was heavily critical of the CBS show and scoffed at the suggestion that it is a widespread problem in the pro peloton.

"The arguments put forward were plainly ridiculous – Vargas said absolutely nothing, he was only after publicity," he said, adding that fitting a 1999 bike with modern, smaller batteries did not amount to a fair test. 

"It's not something you can hide. As a team you cannot organise something like that – you have to involve many people and it would be impossible to keep it a secret."

Bruyneel went on to attack LeMond's character more generally, casting aspersions on his insistence that he never doped in his career, which included three Tour de France victories between 1986 and 1990.

"LeMond knows that nothing that might affect him will ever come to light. Anything he might have done wouldn't be provable today," he said. "He always says that he won clean while his whole generation is suspected to have been doping. It seems impossible to me. He loves hearing that he's the only American to have won the Tour. Or, better still, that he is the only winner of the Tour de France."

LeMond has always insisted he raced clean, and since retiring he has been openly skeptical of others and joined anti-doping efforts such as Change Cycling Now.

"In his era LeMond did all he could to come across well, with that baby face, always smiling, the spoken French with a pronounced American accent. But in the world of cycling everyone knows he isn't a very nice man," continued Bruyneel.

"I often compare him with Laurent Fignon. To the outside world he seemed like a bad-tempered teacher who you couldn't approach, but in the peloton we remember him as a lovely person. LeMond was the polar opposite – an asshole. He ended up on bad terms with everyone."

The long awaited investigation into 'mechanical doping' by US television show CBS '60 Minutes' aired Sunday night, with Hungarian mechanical doping inventor Istvan 'Stefano' Varjas again confirming that he believes professional cyclist are using motors in their bikes, but he would not name his clients.

Journalist Bill Whitaker travelled to Budapest, Hungary last summer to interview Varjas and test his hidden motors. The programme also featured interviews with Greg and Kathy LeMond, Tyler Hamilton and Jean-Pierre Verdy.

Verdy, the former testing director for the French Anti-Doping Agency, revealed that he believes mechanical doping has occurred at the Tour de France but could not name which riders have done so.

"Yes, of course. It's been the last three to four years when I was told about the use of the motors. And in 2014, they told me there are motors. And they told me, there's a problem. By 2015, everyone was complaining and I said, 'Something's got to be done,'" Verdy explained.

Perturbed by the speeds of riders on the high mountains, Verdy explained that through a variety of informants, team managers and riders, he believes 12 cyclists used hidden motors at the 2015 Tour de France, and in doing so, "They're hurting their sport. But human nature is like that. Man has always tried to find that magic potion," he added.

At the 2015 Tour, the UCI was testing various bikes for hidden motors but has since refined its technique that involves a tablet device to scan the frame and wheels.

Read More:

• UCI confirms motorised doping uncovered at cyclo-cross World Championships
• Femke Van den Driessche denies using motor at cyclo-cross World Championships
• Electromagnetic wheels are the new frontier of mechanical doping, claims Gazzetta dello Sport
• Mechanical doping: A brief history

Former Tour de France winner and now television commentator Greg LeMond, along with his wife Kathy, explained their relationships with Varjus in the programme. Kathy LeMond described that having worked secretly with the French police  in 2014, she asked Varjus to cooperate and he did so.

On the eve of the 2015 Tour, Varjus explained that having sold motorized bikes to an 'unknown client via a middleman', he delivered the goods to a 'locked storage room' in Beaulieu Sur Mer on the French Riviera. Along with the hidden motors, Varjus also explained to the LeMond's the existence of hidden motor in the rear wheel which enhanced their weight by around '800 grams'.

"Stefano had said, 'Weigh the wheels. You'll find the wheels. The wheels are in the peloton,'" Kathy LeMond recounted.

Heavy Team Sky bikes at the 2015 Tour de France

The 2015 Tour de France featured two time trials, stage 1 in Utrecht and stage 9 from Vannes to Plumelec, which was a team time trial event. Without specifying which stage, CBS claimed that French authorities told the programme that Team Sky were the only team with bikes significantly heavier, around 800 grams, than the other 21 teams.

A Team Sky spokesperson reportedly told CBS that "during a time trial stage bikes might be heavier to allow for better aerodynamic performance", and that the team had never used "mechanical assistance" and all bikes were checked and cleared by the UCI.

For Greg LeMond, this should have raised 'alarm bells', particularly with sources telling CBS that the UCI wouldn't allow authorities to separately weigh Team Sky's wheels. 

"This is curable. This is fixable. I don’t trust it until they figure out how to take the motor out. I won't trust any victories of the Tour de France," said Greg LeMond, who has suggested the UCI use more thermal cameras to find the hidden motors.

1998 mechanical doping and Ferrari connection

During the programme, Varjas explained that the technology has existed since 1998 and that whoever paid him $2 million for the hidden motor wanted an "exclusive deal," which included Varjus neither talking about, or working on the motor for 10 years. During those 10 years, CBS reported that Varjus served a jail term for not paying a 'substantial tax bill'.

"For 10 years. $2 millions-- if you are in Hungary, if you live in Hungary, if you-- they offer you $2 million to don't do nothing", said Varjus when asked if he was ok with the deal. "Can you refuse it? I don't think."

Back in October when the news first emerged of CBS' programme, former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was quizzed by Ger Gilroy of the Irish Off the Ball radio show on whether he had ever used the technology. The American replied, "Are you out of your mind? I know its topical but are you crazy?"

CBS reached out to Armstrong via his lawyer, who denied Armstrong ever used a motor and declined the request for an interview. CBS  also reached out successfully to Armstrong's former teammate Tyler Hamilton, who told Whitaker he was not aware of hidden motors during his career.

On the suggestion of Varjas, CBS bought a 1999 Trek team issue US Postal bike via the internet and fitted it with a hidden motor by the Hungarian for $12,000. Hamilton tested the bike for the programme, telling Whitaker, "Oh yeah, oh, yeah. It's not super obvious. You know, you - all of a sudden, you're just like, 'Ah.'"

When asked if he thinks teasm could get away mechanical doping, Hamilton added, "I could see how teams are doing it. Yeah. I could."

"That's the difference between winning and losing for sure. For sure," he said of the difference a motor would make.

Varjus had previously claimed that Italian Dr. Michele Ferrari, banned for life for doping Armstrong and other athletes, had visited him three years ago to better understand the implications of mechanical doping. While with Varjus in Hungary, Whitaker described that during a car ride Ferrari called the Hungarian about a delivery of motorized bikes. Varjus suggested Ferrai has been a client for the last three years.

When contacted by CBS, Ferrari reportedly denied that he had bought bikes from Varjus but said he has tested one of the bikes.

The USA television show CBS 60 minutes has confirmed it will broadcast an investigation into mechanical doping in cycling on Sunday, exactly one year after a rudimentary hidden motor was found at the 2016 UCI cyclo-cross world championships.

CBS 60 Minutes is famous for its investigative reporting and has won over 100 Emmy awards. For the report into mechanical doping, CBS reporter Bill Whitaker travelled to Hungary last summer to speak to Istvan Varjas, who showed him how he makes his commercial mechanical doping motor systems. Greg LeMond and others were also interviewed about the issue.

Varjas spoke to the French newspaper Le Monde in mid-December and hinted about the US television investigation, with the French newspaper suggesting the revelations could have as big an impact as the Festina Affair, which exposed wide-spread doping in the peloton and almost brought the Tour de France to a halt in 1998.

Varjas confirmed that he sold one of his first motor prototypes at the end of 1998, and as part of an agreement he could not talk about the technology or continue to develop it for 10 years.

In its online presentation for Sunday's programme, 60 minutes suggests that Varjas was paid $2 million. Asked whether he believes hidden motors like his have been used since then, he answered: "I think. Yes."

Varjas dismissed any responsibility for mechanical doping in professional cycling, telling 60 Minutes "If a grandfather came and buys a bike and after it goes to... his grandson who is racing, it's not my problem."

Asked if he would sell a motor to a person who told him he was going to cheat with it, he replied: "If the money is big, why not?"

In October, when rumours of the CBS 60 Minutes investigation first emerged, Lance Armstrong denied ever using mechanical doping during his career. When quizzed by Ger Gilroy of the Irish Off the Ball radio show. Armstrong said: "Are you out of your mind? I know its topical but are you crazy?"

He later told Le Monde: "I've never put a motor in my bike and I've never met Varjas." Other big-name riders in professional racing have also denied mechanical doping.

More on this story:

• Mechanical doping: A brief history
• CBS 60 Minutes investigates mechanical doping in professional cycling
• Femke Van den Driessche denies using motor at cyclo-cross World Championships
• What is mechanical doping?
• UCI refutes mechanical doping allegations, Motors in use since 1999? A 'big story' coming soon

The history of mechanical doping 

Suspicions of mechanical doping first emerged in 2010, with further reports focusing on several mysterious bike changes and high cadences on climbs during major races, including Grand Tours. The UCI discovered one case of mechanical doping involving the bike of Belgian Under-23 rider Femke Van den Driessche at the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships. She was later banned for six years.

The UCI has introduced simple bike checks using a tablet device to detect the magnetic fields that are created by mechanical doping.

Last spring the French television show Stade 2 and Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera carried out a detailed investigation into mechanical doping and used a heat gun to claim that hidden motors had been used in several races. There are reports that motors have become old hat, with hidden magnets in wheels now the cutting edge of mechanical doping. These are reported to cost 200,000 Euro.

The UCI played down the investigation but was forced to up its controls and also began to use x-rays and heat guns at the Tour de France. French police also investigated during the Tour de France but their powers were limited. A motor has never been discovered in a professional road race.

Greg LeMond has spoken to Cyclingnews several times about the use of hidden motors and suggested that heat guns should be used. He also spoke to 60 Minutes.

"This is curable. This is fixable. I don't trust it until they figure out... how to take the motor out. I won't trust any victories of the Tour de France," 60 minutes report LeMond as saying.