Stephen Roche believes European and Belgian U23 champion Femke Van den Driessche (19) could not have taken her own bike apart and fitted the motor on her own.
Stephen Roche has said the recent case of so-called bike doping detected at the World Cyclocross Championships underlined the need for the UCI to clamp down harder on cheating.
He said the case not only highlighted what he sees as the need for life bans for riders, but also the sanctioning of some people around the riders.
The 1987 Tour, Giro and World Championships triple crown winner said the technical difficulties alone presented with taking a bike apart, inserting a motor and putting it all back together clearly suggested a group of people was involved.
He was writing in his blog on SkySports.com in relation to Belgian and European U23 champion Femke Van Den Driessche being detected with a motor at the Worlds in Zolder last month.
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European and Belgian U23 champion Femke Van den Driessche has been linked to a bike that now appears contained a motor, in what would be the first bike doping case in world cycling.
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Roche said the discovery of what the UCI has clearly said was a motor in the bike linked to the 19-year-old had unfortunately been one of cycling’s biggest stories so far this year.
“It was a huge setback to the sport after the multitude of cheating scandals it has already been through,” he writes.
“And I personally think that the International Cycling Union's (UCI) only option is to impose lifetime bans on not just the rider, but also members of their support team.
“Motor doping isn't like blood doping, which you can do in your hotel room without a soul knowing.
“Someone has to buy that motor, take the bike apart, put the motor in, put the bike back together.
“A 19-year-old girl can't do that on her own. Multiple people are involved in that process and so multiple people have to be banned.
“If the UCI doesn't stamp this out now with lifetime suspensions, fans and sponsors will lose faith in the sport all over again and they won't forgive it for a second time.”
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