UCI president David Lappartient has said that the governing body will step up its fight against mechanical doping and that it would be a “disaster for the sport” if a top rider were caught using a hidden motor.
The Frenchman, who replaced Great Britain’s Brian Cookson after defeating him in September’s presidential election, also said that he is looking to tighten up regulations surrounding therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs).
Speaking to Jeremy Whittle of The Times, Lappartient said: “I worry that motors have been used. I have no proof but it’s not impossible.
“Now I want to be sure that we deliver a sport without doping and without motors. That’s the job of the UCI, to guarantee credibility.”
To date, only one concealed motor has been found in competition – the one discovered in a bike prepared for Belgian under-23 rider Femke van Den Driessche at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder.
Lappartient said that another discovery of a concealed motor at a major event “would be a disaster. I have to be sure that this will never happen.
“I have no information on individuals but I want to end all the rumours of people looking at videos of Chris Froome and other riders and saying they’re using a motor.
“We need to do the tests also to protect the riders.”
He said that the UCI is looking at new technology to test for hidden motors, explaining that he was “not 100 per cent sure” that current methods, using tablet computers linked to an app, were foolproof.
That is likely to include checking bikes during races.
He said: “The idea is to test World Tour events, probably all of them.
“The bike will be checked, we will be able to look at every changed wheel, which we will tag, and we may do random testing during the stage.”
Turning to the issue of TUEs and the Jiffy Bag containing medicine destined for Bradley Wiggins delivered to a Team Sky doctor at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphiné, he said: “Everybody wants to know what was in the packet.
“And I saw what [Shane] Sutton said about Sky using TUEs and I wasn’t very comfortable with it.
“I want to have an independent medical review in time for 2019 and I’m specifically worried about the use of corticoids.
“I’ve already talked to [president] Craig Reedie at the World Anti-Doping Agency about how maybe in some disciplines you can add some other products — tramadol, too — to the banned list. But we want Wada and the IOC on board with this.”
Try WH Smith. Although not all branches are open on Sundays.
Ultegra quick-release cranks? Lancs police saving thousands by avoiding unnecessary prosecution of offenses? Can't see grounds for complaint?
...he doesn't want to do it on his own time
Indeed, more space than to be given to a cyclist. Not diving into a muddy verge earned me the threat of assault and being declared a f*cking idiot.
I think we have a lot in common with equestrians - like our lives on country roads are made difficult and dangerous by drivers being the main one....
This seems to be my theme ATM but I think almost every infra / legal story here could be ended with the following and have the majority of the...
Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about your nan and I agree that culturally we, in the UK, probably don't engage with healthcare as much as we should....
It sure is!
If this happened to my wife or mother I would make it my personal mission in life to find and torture this person until he accidentally died.
I recieved notifications. Make sure you have game emails ticked in your account settings.