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news
Movistar soigneur with broken bike"Hide it!" Vuelta video sparks fresh mechanical doping concerns (+ video)
Video showing a Movistar employee being handed a damaged bike from the roof of a team car and being told to “hide it” have sparked fresh concerns over mechanical doping in the peloton – but the Spanish team says there is an innocent explanation.
The footage was shot by a spectator during Stage 9 of the Vuelta and has led Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport to wonder what exactly was in the frame that needed to be hidden.
The UCI has stepped up controls of bikes for hidden motors this season – at the Vuelta, Fabio Aru and Joaquim Rodriguez’s bikes were among those checked at the weekend – after the Cycling Independent Reform Commission’s report highlighted concerns over ‘mechanical doping.’
– Mechanical doping - the pro cycling story that won't go away
But Movistar sports director Luis Arrieta insisted the reason for getting the bike out of public view was simply due to respect for the manufacturer, Canyon, due to the damage it had suffered.
The sense of urgency was due to wanting to give team mechanics more time to swap over components from the broken frame.
A statement from Canyon, reported on the website CyclingTips said: “Removing damaged equipment away from the view of spectators is nothing new in cycling or any other professional sport.
“We have complete trust in the teams we supply when it comes to how they handle our bikes. We know how much professionalism they bring to their work having built up a close relationship with their staff over the years.“
The company added: “As no Canyon representatives are currently attending the Vuelta a España, please direct any further queries to Movistar Team, who have already made a statement on this matter.“
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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14 comments
Seriously, the press might as well say that the crash that took Cancellara out was caused by his battery running out.
Or that when a rider blows up on the climb it's because the battery ran out.
Cav and Griepel failed to win Stage one of ToB because both of there batteries ran out.
Nibali's motor malfunctioned and went into overdrive the other week. The team were trying to fix it at the team and had to speed up to make the correct adjustments.
Often wondered why Di systems had such large batteries and so many wires..... There's secret motor running the top jockey wheel, But you didn't here it from me.
I'd like the press especially the French and Italian to stop speculating, focus on facts and stop spoiling the sport for the rest of us.
It's quite understandable that they'd want to hide a broken bike.
Look at all the furore last year when Contador crashed on a descent in the 2014 Tour. It was off camera and when his bike was later photographed basically in two half's Specialized got a lot of flak about the possibility that the crash was because of a frame failure. But it turned it was one of his spare bikes that had got tangled up while on the roof of the team car with bikes on the roof of the Belkin car as they'd passed very close on the tight road and been ripped apart.
+1. QFT. This also brings to mind the furore over Cav's FSA chainset, or SRAM basically going on the offensive and implying Andy Schleck was a bit of a nob.
The last thing Canyon wants to get out of their expensive relationship with Movistar is the impression that their £1,000, state-of-the-start, 940g framesets snap easy.
ooh i do love a conspiracy theory!
Storm in a motor cup
I pity the poor rider who has to lug 1.5kg of battery and motor in his frame (not to mention the friction it must add to pedaling) all day for 180km just so he can zip up the final 3 k's.
That, as they say, is illogical. Captain.
The theory is that however much the motor might weigh it can be compensated for with other lighter components. As long as it still meets the minimum weight it would go unnoticed.
But the UCI could add up the weight of the components and notice that there must be either an overly heavy frame or ballast or something else and then demand to see where the ballast is.
Although I agree that the UCI should drop or lower the weight limit to prevent this kind of thing. If the limit is there for safety reasons then it fails anyway because teams have bikes that would be underweight and therefore less safe, then add ballast.
Some of the lightest bikes being produced right now would need 2.5Kg's added to get them up to UCI minimum weight...
... having said that I don't believe that anyone is doing it.
I'm more concerned about the idiot who wanders out into the road holding a young child and then doesn't bother getting out of the way when the car draws up.
It is plausible. It's also unusual in that a single, damaged, bike would be the interest of the press whereas the multitude of non damaged ones were not. FWIW, I think it's a nothing story, but the explanation given makes conspiracy theories more, rather than less, likely.
A storm in a teacup...
It was fairly well hidden on the roof
Not to the cycling press its not. They tend to go around the team cars before and after races/stages, looking at bikes on cars specifically looking for new equipment scoops or anything else of interesting (latest example I can think of what the FSA electronic groupset prototype seen in TdF). Also see the lengths teams go to cover up non-sponsor brand names on equipment. I think its a very plausible explanation.