Electromagnetic wheels are the new frontier of mechanical doping, claims Gazzetta dello Sport

Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport has described a motor hidden in the seat tube and bottom bracket as ‘old doping’ suggesting that special wheels, able to produce 20-60 watts via electromagnetics and costing 200,000 Euro, are the most sophisticated form of mechanical doping currently in use in cycling.

The UCI confirmed during the cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder this weekend that they had discovered the first ever case of ‘technological fraud’. The 19-year-old Belgian Femke Van den Driessche claimed that the bike belonged to a friend and had been mistakenly prepared, and taken to the race pits by her mechanic.

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Electromagnetic wheels

 

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.