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An amateur cyclist has been caught with a hidden motor. The 53-year-old placed in a Masters race, but his bike was being checked during the event by investigators acting on a tip-off (Photos used for this story are generic shots of bike checks, not the bike in this story or any bike found with a hidden motor)
Amateur cyclist caught with hidden motor in race
An amateur cyclist has been found with a hidden motor in his bike. The incident took place in a race in Bedizzole, Italy.
His bike was checked with a thermal camera during the event after a tip-off he was cheating.
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The thermal cameras - also referred to as a 'heat gun' - are used to detect heat patterns generated by concealed motors.
The cyclist is a 53-year-old masters competitor. Reports in Italy suggest the rider’s bike was checked and heat patterns revealing the presence of a motor were found.
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However, the cyclist then left the scene having refused the option of having his bike taken apart for a physical search for the hidden motor.
But Italian coverage of the incident quotes the race organisers, saying the cyclist admitted his guilt.
A French TV channel last year secretly checked bikes during a pro race. Using a thermal camera, they generated images like this which they said suggested hidden motors.
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The race was organised by the Centro Sportivo Italiano. Its vice president Emiliano Scalfi has said the bike was checked based on tip-off information.
“We had some precise information and we proceeded accordingly,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“And we saw in the seat tube of one rider it looked as though there was a fire.
“We invited the rider to go with two commissaires to an authorised centre to check the bike.
“But at that point, he admitted his guilt. Inside the bike he had a motor.”
The incident represents only the second time a hidden motor has been found concealed in the bike of a racing cyclist.
In February of last year a motor was found in the bike of 19-year-old Belgian and European U23 cyclocross champion Femke Van den Driessche.
That motor was discovered at the UCI World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium.
She was banned for six years and fined 20,000 Swiss Francs. Like the new case in Italy, her hidden motor was also found in the seat tube.
Give the advancement in hidden motor technology and cheating – mainly doping – in amateur events, the latest incident will increase concerns hidden motors are being used more frequently than ever.
While major pro races can be checked very quickly, the sheer number of amateur events worldwide would pose real logistic problems if hidden motors became a major issue.
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