"Motorized Doping" at the World Cyclo-Cross Championships

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The head of cycling’s governing body, the UCI, confirmed yesterday that a concealed motor had been detected on a competitor’s bike at the World Cyclo-cross Championships on Saturday, in what is an unprecedented and deeply troubling first case for the sport.

Brian Cookson told a press conference in Zolder, Belgium, that it was “absolutely clear that there was technological fraud. There was a concealed motor.”

The practice, known as “motorised doping” has been the subject of many rumours for the past six years, but no cases have ever been discovered – until the weekend. It is widely known that the addition of a small electric motor hidden in a bike could save a rider up to 100 watts of energy while pedalling, significantly boosting performance.

Saturday’s “doped” bike belonged to young Belgian cyclist Femke van den Driessche, one of the favourites in the women’s Under-23 category race. In the event, Van den Driessche was forced to abandon because of a mechanical incident.

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