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news
Motor hidden in bike frame (Stade 2 video image, April 2016).JPGAmateur cyclist in Italy caught using hidden motor during race
An amateur cyclist in Italy has been caught using an electric motor concealed in the frame of his bike during a race.
Alessandro Andreoli, aged 53, had finished third at the race at Bedizolle near Brescia on Saturday, where the first prize was a food hamper, reports the Corriere della Sera.
But afterwards, officials found a motor concealed in the frame of his Argon 18 bike.
The hidden motor was found with the help of a thermal scanner lent by a to organisers by a businessman who is passionate about cycling.
Before the race, the riders were told that bicycles of the first five finishers would be checked for hidden motors.
The controls were said to have been carried out following rumours in recent months that hidden motors were being used in races in the region.
> People behind motor doping website reveal it was a honeypot operation
The judges asked Andreoli, who has reportedly won several races this season, to remove the saddle from the bike.
He declined to do because he was worried of damaging the cables for his electornic gears.
Instead, the judges suggested that the bike be checked over by a specialist mechanic, which he agreed to.
However, as he went to put the bike in the boot, it appears the insults that were being thrown at Andreoli by others who had competed in the race got a bit much for him.
He took his bike and walked off, with the words “I’m suspending myself” – although it will be national cycling federation that will determine the next step.
Last year, Belgian under-23 cyclo-cross rider Femke van den Driessche was banned for six years for technological fraud after a hidden motor was found in her bike at the World Championships, the first time such a device has been found.
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.
Latest Comments
- wycombewheeler 8 min 20 sec ago
But they are ineffective against spinal injuries as far as I know.
- wycombewheeler 13 min 12 sec ago
just trying to increase the size of the market for road traffic defences he defends
- mitsky 44 min 33 sec ago
Agreed, You can't prove the cloned plate owner drove the vehicle at the time of an incident....
- andystow 47 min 40 sec ago
I'm tempted by these only because of the nifty magnetic mounting system onto the Bontrager helmet I recently purchased. But I currently have a...
- eburtthebike 1 hour 4 min ago
Was Yvette Caster's conversion from yet another anti-cycling journo to sense on the road to Damascus?
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I imagine it will be the Ultegra C36 carbon wheels and a Deda Superzero bars/stem like in Europe. Personally I would probably pick the standard RCR...
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The most effective method would be to levy a charge on parking spaces per annum on locations you want to make better use of, for example city...
- Paul J 3 hours 25 min ago
Hmm, I don't know of any country myself that has hard-to-produce plates.
- marmotte27 3 hours 31 min ago
I'll obviously want to spend a minute to inflate a helmet every time I get on my bike, so like 2 to 5 times on a typical shopping trip....
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18 comments
Any news on what was in the hamper?
The finest Spanish sirloin steaks, supplied direct from Contador's butcher i believe!
The hamper was for first place, our intrepid Italian hero was third.
He won a lucky dip Jiffy bag.
That wouldn't be the Team Sky/Bradley Wiggins kind of a Jiffy Bag would it?
".....he was worried of damaging the cables......."
RIP English.
"However, as he went to put the car in the boot"
RIP proof reading.
How utterly unsurprising. I'd have been more shocked if the headline was "No amateur cyclists in Italy have been caught using hidden motors".
I see he's denying it now. Or admitting it on the basis that others were doing it too!
www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian-amateur-denies-using-mechanical-doping
Yeah I'm not sure the headline matches the body of the report. My Italian's patchy but I don't think the original article has anything about them finding a motor either. He had a sulk, a la Simon's description, and autosospendoed (forgave himself? suspended himself? made his excuses and left..?)
I think I lost it around the stuff about the heat gun costing €15k, but it turned out ok in the end as someone borrowed one from work...?!
Edit: cheers Duncann - more info there. Hopefully I can now work out where the heat gun came from...!
I must have had a late night because this story's confused me. No motor actually found. They told people beforehand they'd be checking, and the guy is allowed to leave with the suspicious bike for examination at a later date. I guess the most interesting part was that someone's purchased a heat camera for fun... the new metal detecting?
Detectorist ... (hopefully someone will get the reference)
That's the individual not the activity..
Those bloody Italians, only cheating themselves. Tsk!
So they didn't actually find the motor, they just found an unusual heat signature <Is what he will say m'lord> Why didn't he just come sixth?
Er, because he wouldn't have got a prize then?
The fact that the Italians bring criminal prosecutions against dopers and other cheats taking part in bike races might explain why he apparently made a quick escape. But perhaps unlikely if his only prize was a food hamper.
Leviathan ... you really are as thick as your picture suggests.
That last bit seems rather harsh and is certainly unecessary.
Yes, my thoughts exactly.
This site has (most recently) become a place where I frequent the 'forum' less and less...
Seems that very few people have any tolerance for anything other than their own opinions, ready to throw around slurs and petty name calling seems to be the most used format for replying to any comment....
I am sure he was not commenting on my intelligence but my girth, I am indeed thick like a sturdy oak. Kaner thanks for the support, I understand you are like the Muad'Dib; you will bend like a reed in the wind.