Mechanical doping: Wilier “shocked” and will take legal action against Femke Van Den Driessche

The bike involved in the mechanical doping scandal at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships at the weekend was a Wilier Carbon Cross bike, and the Italian company says it is “shocked” and is going to take legal action against Femke Van Den Driessche and anyone responsible for “this very serious matter”.

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

"We are literally shocked, as the main technical partner, we want to distance from this act absolutely contrary to the basic values of our company, and with the principles of each sporting competition,” said CEO Andrea Gastaldello.

“Really unacceptable that the photos of our bike is making the rounds of the international media due to this unpleasant fact. 

“We work every day to bring worldwide the quality of our products and when we know that a Wilier Triestina’s bike is meanly tampered we’re very sad. Our company will take legal action against the athlete and against any responsible for this very serious matter, in order to safeguard the good name and image of the company, marked by professionalism and seriousness in 110 years of history.”

- Mechanical doping at Cyclocross Worlds confirmed

We still don’t know the details of the hidden motor found by the UCI, but most speculation leads to it being a device concealed in the seat tube or down tube, and powers the bottom bracket axle, turning the cranks. 

There are a couple of systems on the market that can be retrofitted to a bike, such as the Vivax Assist or Typhoon, and in the case of the former, it’s only compatible with 30.9 and 31.6mm seatposts. The Wilier Carbon Cross bike that Femke Van Den Driessche races has a 31.6mm seatpost.

More details soon...