Motor doping?

[RollingUphill]

Who would have thought this could become an actual problem in a cycling event like the Tour De France? I wonder how exactly people can put a motor in their bicycle when the frames are so lightweight and think. In the article they have said that it was reported at least 7 cyclists last year were using bikes with some sort of motor component in them. Check out the article. Is this really a thing?
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/motors-no-longer-rumour-222121

 

[Power Meter City]

Yes it's a thing...sadly. Here's how it works. http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/news/how-does-mechanical-doping-work

 

[OursIsTheFury]

The things people do to get their 15 minutes of fame in the world of cycling. Too bad if they get discovered, their entire career would be ruined, and that small victory that they had would fade away, and they will be known as the cyclists who cheated a perfectly fair contest. It's pretty sad, really. Desperate contestants need to do something drastic because they didn't train hard enough or aren't good enough on their own skill to reach places.

 

[NDI2]

As the people above me already confirmed, it is a thing. Didn't you hear about the woman that got caught using a motor in the youth world cup field cross? She got a 6 year suspension not too long ago. Name is Femke van den Driessche, you can google her name and the details will come up. There's also a video in which she is participating as a 19 year old in a professional race. While everyone is struggling going uphill she seems to peddle quite easy.

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Ever since the UCI has upped their effort in checking all the bikes before, during and after the races.

 

[TungstenCube]

After Lance was caught and made into an anti-doping icon, bikers have been looking for other ways to game the system and continue gaining an unfair advantage. It looks like attaching a small motor was the answer to that problem. In this world, winning is everything, and the rider wants the fame, glory, and endorsements that accompany the winner.

 

[erook7878]

The Femke van den Driessche video is pretty insane. You can see the difference in pedaling between her and her competitors. It seems obvious now in retrospect.

 

[NDI2]

The Femke van den Driessche video is pretty insane. You can see the difference in pedaling between her and her competitors. It seems obvious now in retrospect.

Yeah and there's more of these kind of videos. Look at this one of Ryder Hesjedal, the Canadian rider. Notice how his back wheel keeps spinning after he fell off and the bike is completely on itself. It's really odd to say the least.

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[pwarbi]

While it seems that cycling is never too far away from a scandal, what concerns me is that it's been going in for so long now that it's starting to become engrained into the culture.

If it's not motor doping it's steroid and substance abuse, and it begs the question, when is it going to end? And maybe more importantly, HOW is it going to end?

 

[NDI2]

While it seems that cycling is never too far away from a scandal, what concerns me is that it's been going in for so long now that it's starting to become engrained into the culture.

If it's not motor doping it's steroid and substance abuse, and it begs the question, when is it going to end? And maybe more importantly, HOW is it going to end?

Doping is in every sport though. In cycling it was so widespread that eventually the authorities went in because it's illegal to traffic the dope as well. These days I think the sport is much cleaner than before, but yeah it is still a problem. But in other sports they aren't that far behind though. Look at the Russians who are currently banned. They were all on some sort of heart medication, not because of heart problems but because it apparently improves your fitness. Then there's the president of the athletics organization who actively helped to clean up positive tests. And so forth. Luckily mechanical doping is not possible in most sports.

 

[erook7878]

While it seems that cycling is never too far away from a scandal, what concerns me is that it's been going in for so long now that it's starting to become engrained into the culture.

If it's not motor doping it's steroid and substance abuse, and it begs the question, when is it going to end? And maybe more importantly, HOW is it going to end?

I wonder what the culture is like now post-Armstrong. People that don't follow cycling don't understand how ingrained doping was in the sport during the Armstrong years. It was pretty much understood by the top cyclists that you have to cheat to even have a chance to win some of the bigger events, especially the Tour de France. It was just a matter of not getting caught.

 

[rz3300]

I have never heard of people actually doing this in competitions, and I have to say that I think that is even worse than the whole PED thing. That is such a blatant violation of the rules of competition and it is a disrespectful one too, in my opinion, and I am glad that people are being called out and caught. I am interested to see where these stories go and what the organizations will do to battle the issue.

 

[pwarbi]

Doping is in every sport though. In cycling it was so widespread that eventually the authorities went in because it's illegal to traffic the dope as well. These days I think the sport is much cleaner than before, but yeah it is still a problem. But in other sports they aren't that far behind though. Look at the Russians who are currently banned. They were all on some sort of heart medication, not because of heart problems but because it apparently improves your fitness. Then there's the president of the athletics organization who actively helped to clean up positive tests. And so forth. Luckily mechanical doping is not possible in most sports.

I agree that doping is certainly across all sports but with cycling it almost seemed as if doping was that common that cyclists knew it was going on but carried on competing regardless. It was engrained in the culture almost, and even though it's got a lot better, it's a tarnished sport that's going to take a long time to recover.

 

[pwarbi]

I wonder what the culture is like now post-Armstrong. People that don't follow cycling don't understand how ingrained doping was in the sport during the Armstrong years. It was pretty much understood by the top cyclists that you have to cheat to even have a chance to win some of the bigger events, especially the Tour de France. It was just a matter of not getting caught.

As I said previously, I think it has got a lot better, and a lot of work has been done, and continues to be done to clean the sport up.

Once the reputation of a sport gets dragged through the mud like cycling as been, it's always going to be hard to build that trust again. As cyclists ourselves though, while obviously not on the Tour de France level, I think we all have a duty to try and help rebuild the reputation of the sport that we all love.

 

[cyclenthusias44]

Yes it's a thing...sadly. Here's how it works. http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/news/how-does-mechanical-doping-work

Thank you very much for the link. The information helped me.

 

[divinemaredi]

Yeah great sources in this thread, very helpful and informative.

 

[Shark425]

I wonder what the culture is like now post-Armstrong. People that don't follow cycling don't understand how ingrained doping was in the sport during the Armstrong years. It was pretty much understood by the top cyclists that you have to cheat to even have a chance to win some of the bigger events, especially the Tour de France. It was just a matter of not getting caught.

In the past 5 years or so there have been multiple instances where riders were caught using banned substances. It is still part of the sport, but it appears none of the big names have been accused...

 

[pwarbi]

The sport is moving in the right direction when it comes to banned substances even though it's still an issue, so the last thing the sport needs is more controversy.

While I understand that cyclists and teams are under more and more pressure than ever before these days to win races, that shouldn't be to the detriment of the sport as a whole. Lifetime bans for everyone involved in any form of cheating is the only way to stamp it out completely.

 

[Belovedad]

That is really sad. No matter what it is, people always find ways to cheat and it is annoying.

 

[pwarbi]

It is sad in a way, but I think it's a reflection on society more than anything else. People will do anything to succeed these days, and if that means by cheating to gain an advantage then so be it.

Will we ever go back to the days of sportsmanship? I'm guessing not so maybe it's just something we unfortunately have to live with now.

 

[Acheno84]

This is just crazy. Why can't people just be honest? There are people who train and work so hard to be able to participate in events like this and there are people who ruin it by cheating. I just don't understand why people can't be decent anymore. It's pretty discouraging, but I guess it is what it is.