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Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

cyclingtips.com

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Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#121

Post by commenter1239 »

jschwartzi wrote: post #6

If the motor was installed by a family friend, why would that person need to conceal the switch?

It was alleged, that the bike with the motor, was not her bike but a friend's bike, that was left in their tent, and mistaken to be the althlete's bike. But also supports your statement, if this wasn't the athlete's bike, why go through the effort to hide the switch or mechanism at all if you're not competing?

On the flip side, if the bike was actually a friend's bike, what do you say to that friend that got you banned?

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#122

Post by heartbreak »

davidw wrote: post #108
waynecochran wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to really like to follow cycling -- I have now concluded it is the dirtiest sport there is. They are the original dopers -- note that the list starts in the 1800's: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cyclin... e.g. 1930 "The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930 that the rule book, distributed by Henri Desgrange, reminded riders that drugs would not be provi…

Oh, bullshit. Look at how rotten soccer is from FIFA on down. Look at US sports where those guys were oozing steroids out there ears with basically no consequences. It's just that cycling is kind of a working man's sport in Europe and is sort of caught in a no-man's land: it's not wealthy enough to buy its way out of trouble like soccer and US sports, but does have enough money to attract cheaters. When the scandal l…

Do you have any evidence of FIFA matches having rigged equipment?

And the Spanish national football team's string of success would have been after the investigation you linked to.

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#124

Post by davidw »

heartbreak wrote: post #122
davidw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, bullshit. Look at how rotten soccer is from FIFA on down. Look at US sports where those guys were oozing steroids out there ears with basically no consequences. It's just that cycling is kind of a working man's sport in Europe and is sort of caught in a no-man's land: it's not wealthy enough to buy its way out of trouble like soccer and US sports, but does have enough money to attract cheaters. When the scandal l…

Do you have any evidence of FIFA matches having rigged equipment? And the Spanish national football team's string of success would have been after the investigation you linked to.

There were a bunch of rigged matches in Italy a while back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Italian_football_scandal

> And the Spanish national football team's string of success would have been after the investigation you linked to.

The one where no one but cyclists got singled out? Looks like they figured out they were pretty much in the clear.

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#125

Post by rjsw »

commenter1239 wrote: post #121
jschwartzi wrote: post #6

If the motor was installed by a family friend, why would that person need to conceal the switch?

It was alleged, that the bike with the motor, was not her bike but a friend's bike, that was left in their tent, and mistaken to be the althlete's bike. But also supports your statement, if this wasn't the athlete's bike, why go through the effort to hide the switch or mechanism at all if you're not competing? On the flip side, if the bike was actually a friend's bike, what do you say to that friend that got you bann…

... and is the friend racing as well ?

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#126

Post by matt_morgan »

KON_Air wrote: post #4

It makes me wonder if the engines would be this sophisticated if they weren't for cheating?

In NYC, motorized bikes are technically illegal, although they're used all the time by delivery workers. I'm not aware of anyone getting tickets for them ... but it's a law that makes all of us cheaters, potentially. I'd feel a lot better with a hidden motor than a visible one (though I can't afford either).

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#127

Post by Grishnakh »

alistairSH wrote: post #74
celticninja wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but casual cyclists will not pay €2499 for the pleasure of doing so

It depends how you define "casual". I tend to think of casual cyclists as avid cyclists who don't race. Anybody who isn't avid is just a guy/gal on a bike. By that definition, casual cyclists spend ridiculous amounts of money on cycling kit. $2000 for a set of carbon fiber wheels. $1000 for a power meter. Trek has a custom line of bikes (Project One) that retail in the $7000-$15000 range (US).

Those aren't "casual" bikes. Maybe you could call them "prosumer", but really those are ridiculous prices for bikes, that's like calling a $300k Ferrari a car for "casual" car fans.

You can walk into any decent bike shop in the US now and buy a very nice carbon-frame bike for $2-3k, and a really nice aluminum-frame bike for under $1k. And these are road bikes BTW, where there simply is no low-end market any more: if you want a low-end bike, you go to Walmart and buy a $100-150 mountain bike. If you're spending more money on a bike than a new economy car costs, that is not even remotely "casual", and not even "avid" unless you're someone who has more money than you know what to do with.

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#128

Post by e40 »

“I was stood in the pit next to Femke’s entourage,” he said then. “I don’t quite know what it was, but something seemed a bit weird there. The whole team had walkie talkie radios, ear pieces and seemed pretty anxious and, overall, just a bit odd. I’d never seen that before and it kind of stuck in my head.”

Very clear that everyone knew about it.

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#129

Post by arto »

atom-morgan wrote: post #23

I don't see it in the article but I heard it recently so I guess I'll share. Lance Armstrong was on the Joe Rogan Experience and discussed doping within the sport. He said at one point in time, people would thread fishing line through a wine cork. They'd tie the line to the tail of a car and stick the cork in their mouth. As the car starts moving, the cork pulls against your teeth giving you just enough pull.

Joe Rogan Experience #737 - Lance Armstrong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEfSdPz1WtA

Re: Hidden motors in cycling: Van den Dreissche banned for 6 years, titles stripped

#130

Post by techdmn »

markkat wrote: post #98
giarc wrote: post #88

>She also said that this bike was taken by accident by her helpers to the pit area. >She claimed that he had put a motor in unbeknownst to her What is with athletes and never admitting their mistakes. You were caught, I would have much more respect for someone if they just came out and said "Yes, I did it, I take full responsibility." Instead they come up with these ridiculous excuses that do nothing but continue to…

This is a lying, cheating, athlete in particular, so it's not surprising. Many athletes do have integrity and don't need to concoct such excuses.

Good point. Why aren't cheating athletes honest? Because honest athletes aren't cheating.

But personally I've wondered the same thing. Ryan Braun's doping was hard to take, but not as bad as all the whinging he did when caught.

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