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UCI president says he will step up fight against motor doping

David Lappartient says it would be “disaster for the sport” if rider were caught using hidden motor in big race

UCI president David Lappartient has said that the governing body will step up its fight against mechanical doping and that it would be a “disaster for the sport” if a top rider were caught using a hidden motor.

The Frenchman, who replaced Great Britain’s Brian Cookson after defeating him in September’s presidential election, also said that he is looking to tighten up regulations surrounding therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs).

Speaking to Jeremy Whittle of The Times, Lappartient said: “I worry that motors have been used. I have no proof but it’s not impossible.

“Now I want to be sure that we deliver a sport without doping and without motors. That’s the job of the UCI, to guarantee credibility.”

To date, only one concealed motor has been found in competition – the one discovered in a bike prepared for Belgian under-23 rider Femke van Den Driessche at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder.

Lappartient said that another discovery of a concealed motor at a major event “would be a disaster. I have to be sure that this will never happen.

“I have no information on individuals but I want to end all the rumours of people looking at videos of Chris Froome and other riders and saying they’re using a motor.

“We need to do the tests also to protect the riders.”

He said that the UCI is looking at new technology to test for hidden motors, explaining that he was “not 100 per cent sure” that current methods, using tablet computers linked to an app, were foolproof.

That is likely to include checking bikes during races.

He said: “The idea is to test World Tour events, probably all of them.

“The bike will be checked, we will be able to look at every changed wheel, which we will tag, and we may do random testing during the stage.”

Turning to the issue of TUEs and the Jiffy Bag containing medicine destined for Bradley Wiggins delivered to a Team Sky doctor at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphiné, he said: “Everybody wants to know what was in the packet.

“And I saw what [Shane] Sutton said about Sky using TUEs and I wasn’t very comfortable with it.

“I want to have an independent medical review in time for 2019 and I’m specifically worried about the use of corticoids.

“I’ve already talked to [president] Craig Reedie at the World Anti-Doping Agency about how maybe in some disciplines you can add some other products — tramadol, too — to the banned list. But we want Wada and the IOC on board with this.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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5 comments

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
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Probably a non-issue given how easy it should be to find a motor. Not exactly many places to hide stuff.

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Richard D replied to Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
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Quote:

It would be a “disaster for the sport” if a top rider were caught using a hidden motor.

He's wrong.  What would be disasterous for the sport would be riders using a hidden motor and NOT being caught.

That was part of the reason why EPO ran rampant in the mid-90s - no effective way to catch the cheats.

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terrycojones | 7 years ago
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One thing that concerns me is that it's not in the (short-term, at least) interests of the UCI for mechanical doping to be exposed, supposing someone is caught. As Lappartient says, it would be a disaster for the sport...   Anyway, nice to have such candid (and good) answers.

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fenix | 7 years ago
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Did you miss Nibalis DQ ?

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Welsh boy | 6 years ago
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Good, about time someonr in charge cracked down on doping (mechanical and chemical).  How about looking at sticky bottles, magic spanners and door handles too.  It always amuses me that the majority of cycling fans will gt upset about one form of cheating but accept another as being part of the culture of the sport.

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