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Hidden motors used at Strade Bianche, claims French TV (+ video)

Investigation from Stade 2 and Italy's Corriere della Sera used thermal imaging equipment...

Hidden motors are being used within the men’s professional peloton according to a Franco-Italian investigation which claims to have evidence of their use at races in Italy including last month’s Strade Bianche. It has also been claimed that hidden motors were used by top riders at the 2015 Tour de France.

The allegations come less than three months after a concealed motor was found by UCI testers at the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in Belgium – the first time such a discovery has been made.

- Mechanical doping: All you need to know about concealed motors

Journalists from the French TV sports programme Stade 2 and the Italian newspaper La Corriere della Sera say that they identified seven motors being used by competitors at Strade Bianche and the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, both held last month.

They said that the use of the banned technology had been discovered through thermal imaging equipment that had been disguised to resemble a camera, but neither the newspaper in its report, nor the TV show broadcast this evening, named individual teams or riders.

The media outlets claimed they had found two different types of system being deployed – five of the bikes they believed to have motors concealed are said to have had them hidden in the seat post, while the other two apparently had them in the rear hub.

The image above wasn’t taken during a race, but was shown during the Stade 2 report to highlight the heat signature given off by a motor concealed in a seat post.

Cycling Hub TV has posted two videos to YouTube of the segment of the programme that focused on hidden motors.

Jean-Pierre Vedry, the former director of France’s national anti-doping agency, the AFLD, told Stade 2: “Last July we received very reliable information on the use of motors on the Tour with the names of top athletes. We alerted the UCI, but there was no reply, no checks.”

Besides outlining the motors work and how they can be concealed within bicycle frames, with an explanation provided by the Hungarian engineer Istvan Varjas whom, it is claimed, has clients including professional cyclists.

He also showed a motor he had designed that is just 5 centimetres in length – compared to the 22 centimetre length of the Austria-made Vivax Assist, as well as talking about how motors can now be hidden in carbon rims of rear wheels, too.

The programme also covered ground familiar to anyone who has followed the issue of hidden motors since 2010, when they were first rumoured to be used in the peloton.

Insider blogger Inner Ring seemed underwhelmed by the programme’s revelations, saying on Twitter: “Little new in the Stade 2 report on motors in bikes, cycling fans probably know all the issues and ideas already, eg it's possible to hide a motor which may be news for general Sunday TV audience but probably not for us. Thermal imaging didn't reveal much either.”

At the end of January, UCI officials using scanning technology discovered a motor concealed in the seat post of a bike prepared for Belgian Under-23 rider Femke Van den Driessche at the world championships in Belgium.

The technology uses a tablet computer in partnership with an app that is believed to detect magnetic waves created by a motor, and while the governing body points to the Van den Driessche case as proof it works, Stade 2 and the Corriere della Sera say it is not as reliable as the thermal imaging device they used.

Initially, she claimed the bike belonged to a family friend but subsequently decided not to contest the charge of technological fraud brought against her.

The UCI’s Disciplinary Commission has yet to render its decision in the case, but the governing body has said it is pressing for a severe sanction.

The onus would have been on Van den Driessche to prove her bike met UCI regulations, with “the presence within or on the margins of a cycling competition” of a non-compliant bike enough for an offence to be committed.

The 19-year-old, who has announced her retirement from cycling, and faces a penalty of a   minimum ban of six months for the rider and a fine of between CHF20,000 and CHF200,000.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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19 comments

Avatar
ch | 7 years ago
1 like

Unlike PED testing, inspection is fast, cheap, and 100% reliable.    It's just a matter of doing it.

Avatar
Ginsterdrz | 7 years ago
1 like

Rather than 'reporting the names and teams to the UCI' let's get them into the public domain.

Let the peloton and riders police themselves.

Then ban the offending teams.

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PeterM | 7 years ago
2 likes

"Previously, they used this 'evidence' to accuse him of doping. Now the same 'evidence' is being used to accuse him of having a hidden motor "

 

-  Why not both? Quite a sensible belt and braces approach I would've thought...:-)

Avatar
HarrogateSpa | 7 years ago
3 likes

There may be something in this, and it needs looking at. As they acknowledge in the France 2 report, a thermal camera could be used to raise a suspicion, followed by a physical inspection.

What's disappointing is that Stade 2 still have a bee in their collective bonnet about Froome and La Pierre St Martin. He went jolly fast up there, and the unimpeachable (!) Cedric Vasseur said this was surprising. Previously, they used this 'evidence' to accuse him of doping. Now the same 'evidence' is being used to accuse him of having a hidden motor. Who knows what it will be used to 'prove' next month.

If one day there is proof that Froome has cheated, then it will be quite right for the media to expose him. For so long as there is no evidence, just cheap speculation based on 'look how fast he's riding', it's irresponsible and unfair to point the finger.

Avatar
JeevesBath replied to HarrogateSpa | 7 years ago
3 likes

HarrogateSpa wrote:

There may be something in this, and it needs looking at. As they acknowledge in the France 2 report, a thermal camera could be used to raise a suspicion, followed by a physical inspection.

What's disappointing is that Stade 2 still have a bee in their collective bonnet about Froome and La Pierre St Martin. He went jolly fast up there, and the unimpeachable (!) Cedric Vasseur said this was surprising. Previously, they used this 'evidence' to accuse him of doping. Now the same 'evidence' is being used to accuse him of having a hidden motor. Who knows what it will be used to 'prove' next month.

If one day there is proof that Froome has cheated, then it will be quite right for the media to expose him. For so long as there is no evidence, just cheap speculation based on 'look how fast he's riding', it's irresponsible and unfair to point the finger.

My theory is that his bike only weighs 1kg (while everyon else's weighs the minimum limit) allowing him to climb much faster. As he reaches the end of the race, he is handed off a number of special water bottles which when slotted into the bottle holder 'drains' into the frame of the bike, thus brining it up to legal weight.

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Dr_C_Ampagnolo | 7 years ago
2 likes

I'm certainly no expert on IR-heat signatures, but what about heat caused by friction from the front derailleur? Or heat caused by the electronic parts on the front derailleur (assuming it is an electronic system). And lastly, heat generated by the crankset? Could this all spread to the lower part of the seat tube?

Avatar
harrybav | 7 years ago
2 likes

Pic shows the cyclist has a wooden foot.

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1961BikiE | 7 years ago
1 like

Just to be a pedant, this report says seat post. Do you mean seat tube? I could see the battery being in the seat pin but surely the motor needs to be as close to the BB as possible.

And I suspect there might be a lot of seat post heat signatures of batteries found in the pro peloton as I believe that's where Di2/EPS batteries are fitted?

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Dr_C_Ampagnolo | 7 years ago
2 likes

I think it's a hot Baloney stuffed down the seat tube. 

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Peowpeowpeowlasers | 7 years ago
3 likes

FLIR cameras are vastly different in appearance to broadcast television cameras. Source: me, a TV cameraman.

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King_Louis replied to Peowpeowpeowlasers | 7 years ago
0 likes

Peowpeowpeowlasers wrote:

FLIR cameras are vastly different in appearance to broadcast television cameras. Source: me, a TV cameraman.

 

That has to be my favourite username ever. Congratulations sir.

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darrylxxx replied to Peowpeowpeowlasers | 7 years ago
0 likes

Peowpeowpeowlasers wrote:

FLIR cameras are vastly different in appearance to broadcast television cameras. Source: me, a TV cameraman.

It would be very easy to disguiese a FLIR camera as a broadcast TV camera. Source: me, a producer of 35 years.

Avatar
Grizzerly | 7 years ago
3 likes

I have reliable information from an unimpeachable source that proves conclusively that this is all bollocks. 

No, I'm not going to tell you who the source is, nor am I going to share the information with you.

You'll just have to believe me!

 

Avatar
balmybaldwin | 7 years ago
2 likes

This is fishy.  No doubt we do need to worry about motor doping,  but the report above offers little evidence, and using thermal imaging cameras is not in the least bit reliable friction and heat will exist in patches in a moving structure. a hot hub can just be a bit of grit that's got it. flexing cabon tubes will create heat too.  maybe use it as a device to advise after race checks but in its self it cant be evidence

Avatar
handlebarcam | 7 years ago
5 likes

There are lies, damn lies, and misleading data visualisation techniques. In the thermal images I have seen, the scale calibration varies widely, with the ones from demo runs on known motor-equipped bikes representing a greater than 20C range, while the ones supposedly captured during a real race seem to be less than 10C. That not only reduces the maximum, it means the false colouring, based as it is on density slicing, will exaggerate differences within the cooler images. Mechanical cheating could be happening, but this doesn't come close to proving it (as they know otherwise they'd name names.)

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BBB | 7 years ago
0 likes

...

Avatar
Canyon48 | 7 years ago
4 likes

"The image above wasn’t taken during a race, but was shown during the Stade 2 report to highlight the heat signature given off by a motor concealed in a seat post."

I assume this means that picture showing heat coming from the seat tube was just a test the tv company did then.

The tv company/channel/whatever say they have reported it to the UCI and they say they have proof of seven motors being used by pros. Sounds like a load of publicity balls to me, if they won't name anyone or provide evidence, then how is anyone meant to believe they have any evidence at all?

The disguised IR cameras sounds a bit fishy too. An IR camera fundamentally isn't vastly different to a visiual spectrum camera. Moreover, why would they need to disguise it, riders aren't going to suddenly be able to cover up a heat signature from a motor if they realise they are being filmed on an IR camera. It's almost like they are saying they used disguised IR cameras to make the general public believe that is what they did and therefore try an give some credibility to what they are suggesting.

I'm not saying that motors in bikes hasn't/isn't going on, but I struggle to believe journalists who are making vague claims...

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to Canyon48 | 7 years ago
7 likes

wellsprop wrote:

I'm not saying that motors in bikes hasn't/isn't going on, but I struggle to believe journalists who are making vague claims...

 

Just like people struggled to believe journalists making vague claims about doping.

Avatar
darrylxxx replied to Canyon48 | 7 years ago
1 like

wellsprop wrote:

The disguised IR cameras sounds a bit fishy too. An IR camera fundamentally isn't vastly different to a visiual spectrum camera. Moreover, why would they need to disguise it, riders aren't going to suddenly be able to cover up a heat signature from a motor if they realise they are being filmed on an IR camera. It's almost like they are saying they used disguised IR cameras to make the general public believe that is what they did and therefore try an give some credibility to what they are suggesting.

Not these days. IR cameras are now simple addons for iPhones. http://www.flir.com/flirone/content/?id=69369

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