There's a famously old accusation against Lance Armstrong https://telegrafi.com/en/keshtu-funksionon-motori-vogel-per-... The video of him reaching behind his seat is interesting I guess.
But "It's not about the bike" ...
Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
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Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#92Fabian Cancellera was widely suspected of mechanical doping in Paris Roubaix in 2010 (possibly also the tour of Flanders that year). Since then, however, they x-ray bikes for motors. More importantly, riders aren't switching bikes they way they used to. Greg LeMond claimed Chris Froome used on in the TDF. References: https://www.bennionkearny.com/the-hidden-motor-mechanical-do... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgbvu…
so did they find anyone using tiny motors when doing inspections?
I don't think they've found anyone on the big tours, but iirc this was the first case of someone getting caught: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#93At that level of competition, just keep xraying bikes so it can't become an issue? Drug testing is privacy invasive, having your bike xrayed isn't if you're not cheating.
XRay is also somewhat privacy invasive to bike athletes, but not to "normal" people. The reason is that there is a huge competition on making bikes lighter while still being able to withstand the exact stress put on in in that one leg of the race. So they file off a little metal here, a little there, shorten some screws, etc. The secret is in how much you can take away in which places. This can lead to bikes that are…
They have minimum bike weights to counter this. Commercially available well built carbon fibre bikes are sometimes bellow the minimum weight right out of the factory so they have to add weights to them.
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#94Seems like the answer to the question posed is… no
Betteridge's law of headlines
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
so did they find anyone using tiny motors when doing inspections?
I don't think they've found anyone on the big tours, but iirc this was the first case of someone getting caught: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963
The excuse of the cyclist in this article is hilarious. "My friend just so happened to have an identical looking bike with an extremely rare stealth motor setup and it got swapped for mine, and I as a professional cyclist didn't notice that."
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is pay off greater in cycling than other sports? Salary of the top riders? Compared to say NBA players, pro cyclist make relatively little. Tadej Pogacar (best and top paid cyclist) makes about $8M (euros) in salary per year. Steph Curry (highest paid) NBA player makes $55M (dollars) in salary per year.
Basketball isn’t as demanding physically as cycling. You need to be fit but not to the extreme degree cycling demands. I would expect doping to be most beneficial in sports where pure physicality is needed. Marathon, triathlon, track running.
There's a lot more money in basketball, though. And money is the number 1 incentive. Growth hormones might be used.
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#97My old boss was a tour rider in the early 90’s - he told me in 2012 that tiny motors were being used. I believe him.
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#98Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#99I am definitely a layperson when it comes to organized sports, but from my POV it seems like competitive cycling attracts WAY more fraud/cheating/doping/etc. than many other kinds of sports. At least I have heard about it a lot more. I wonder why that is.
One way of thinking about it is how much a sport is skill-based versus fitness-based. Team sports and racquet sports tend to rely more on skill. Cycling and track and field rely more on fitness. A good soccer player isn't going to become a great just by getting a bit fitter, but the advantage given by doping is exactly what it means to be a better cyclist. This doesn't explain why cycling seems to attract more doping…
Soccer very much depends on fitness too.
Re: Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors?
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it's such a tough sport. The Tour de France was originally intended to be so tough that only one person might finish it. In other words it was set up to be extremely hard for most normal athletes to compete without some kind of artificial assistance. So there was a history of drug taking from the start. But after the scandals of 20 years ago it became one of the most tested sports in the world. So now, in my…
> drugs are not used much they just switched to drugs you cant easily detect.
For the prestigious pro events samples are kept for years afterwards and are subject to re-testing at any time as science advances. If any of those re-tests fails (or if cheating comes to light through any other means) the rider would be dq'd, stripped of the result, and be liable to pay back prize any and sponsorship money.
These are riders in their twenties, that's such a long time to rely on getting away with it I personally do not think it's happening at the highest pro-level.