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Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

fittish.deadspin.com

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Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#31

Post by randlet »

cyberferret wrote: post #26
randlet wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems trivial to detect now though. It's no problem to just tear down the bikes of the first X finishers to look for mechanical aids. Detecting doping reliably is much trickier. edit: I think most high level bikes use carbon fibre frames? You could probably just use x-ray or ultrasound imaging to look for anything suspicious in the frame.

Perhaps implement something similar to the parc ferme rules in F1? Where the winning cars and impounded after the race for detailed inspection and measurements by the stewards to ensure that they comply with the thousands of regulations? Drivers have been disqualified in the past for a spoiler or brake caliper measurement that are millimetres out, and I remember Daniel Ricciardo was stripped of his podium here in Aus…

Yeah this is quite common in most high level forms of motorsport I think. There is often a pre-race inspection for all entries and then the top 3 finishers are gone over with a fine tooth comb.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#32

Post by thom_nic »

cyberferret wrote: post #26
randlet wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems trivial to detect now though. It's no problem to just tear down the bikes of the first X finishers to look for mechanical aids. Detecting doping reliably is much trickier. edit: I think most high level bikes use carbon fibre frames? You could probably just use x-ray or ultrasound imaging to look for anything suspicious in the frame.

Perhaps implement something similar to the parc ferme rules in F1? Where the winning cars and impounded after the race for detailed inspection and measurements by the stewards to ensure that they comply with the thousands of regulations? Drivers have been disqualified in the past for a spoiler or brake caliper measurement that are millimetres out, and I remember Daniel Ricciardo was stripped of his podium here in Aus…

I think at this point the UCI do always inspect the winner's bike after each stage. Here's a scenario where a rider could avoid most scrutiny and get away with it....

Say a rider doesn't finish in the top 5 for any early stages but stays near the top of the pack time-wise. Meanwhile they are conserving energy e.g. through use of a motor during mountain stages. Then at the end, stop using the motor and have fresh legs because you haven't been working as hard as everyone else, and experience a miraculous rise in the standings in the last couple stages and clinch the GC win?

Although if you take the '15 TDF as an example, I think it was Froome was right up top of the standings for a huge chunk of the race. So no doubt his bike was inspected many time. Generally that's how it plays out, there's rarely a dark horse that shows up right at the end.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#34

Post by randlet »

bache wrote: post #17
Swizec wrote: post #9

What makes cycling so particularly attractive to cheating? Or is cheating in cycling just getting more publicity than in other sports?

It's not just cycling. Boxing, baseball, tennis they are all cheating, theres million dollar incentives for these athletes too

Exactly. My impression is that a large percentage of top performing athletes are "enhanced" in some form or another.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#35

Post by rhizome »

Viper007Bond wrote: post #29
rhizome wrote: post #11

A combination of FLIR and homologation could go a long way to solve this problem. FLIR seems like an excellent start.

Later in the video it shows electromagnets that don't really generate heat the same way the motors do.

Yeah, that's the FLIR part, but homologation could help with the "batteries in the seat stays" thing and other structural modifications. To be sure, homologation doesn't necessarily prohibit modification, and these frames typically have custom dimensions to suit the rider, so maybe x-rays could also be thrown into the mix.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#37

Post by maxerickson »

fsaneq2 wrote: post #20
maxerickson wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long do they typically use a bike? For big races, it might not be entirely absurd to cut up the frame after the race, just to be sure.

From the video linked, it sounds like they can (legally) switch bikes during the race, so they could just switch back to a legit bike close to the finish.

Cut up all the bikes. Or use the more reasonable suggestion in the sibling to my comment and just dismantle them enough to do a good inspection.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#38

Post by NamTaf »

thom_nic wrote: post #33
NamTaf wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it at all related?

Look up, I think you'll see @awinter-py's joke passing over your head :D

All I see are the FBI planes taking my portrait :( I can't tell what's real and what's dystopian any more.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#40

Post by alphydan »

thom_nic wrote: post #36

What I don't understand is, how is neodymium undetectable? Wouldn't they notice the unusually strong magnetic force?

I don't know the answer. But my first guess is that (to a first approximation) a magnet inside a metal box does not create a magnetic field outside of that box [1]. Of course this depends on the material of the tube.

[1] http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/38759/does-farada...

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