First Case of Mechanical Doping at Cyclocross World Championships
Van den Driessche had been taking part in the inaugural under 23 women’s event, which was won by Britain’s Evie Richards. The Belgian and European under 23 champion had gone in as a pre-race favourite but did not feature at the front. She was eventually forced off her bike on the final lap when she was struck by mechanical problems and ended up walking with her bike.
Van den Driessche’s bike was taken for inspection along with several other bikes after the race. It quickly became apparent that something was wrong with her bike and news of the discovery quickly spread; however it is only this Sunday morning that they revealed their discovery. It gives Van den Driessche the dubious honour of being the first rider to be discovered to be using a motor. Incidentally, Van den Driessche’s brother Niels is currently suspended for doping.
Following the press conference, Cookson later tweeted his thoughts. “Technological fraud is unacceptable. We want the minority who may consider cheating to know that, increasingly,” he wrote. “There is no place to hide, and sooner or later they will pay for the damage they’re causing to our sport.”
He also issued a defiant message to anyone considering using a motor in the future. "To all the people who want to cheat, yesterday we sent a clear message: we will catch you and we will punish you because our technology to detect such fraud seems to work,” he said according to Sporza.
It'll be interesting to finally learn what really happened. Reading the various articles about the discovery of the bike and the defense by the racer's dad, it seems like there are a lot of versions of the story. In addition, her brother is currently suspended from racing due to a doping charge. Here's what I'd like to know:
1. Did she use the bike during the race? Different accounts by different news organizations have reported this differently. She is trying to say the bike was accidentally brought into the pit and she didn't ride it.
2. Did they find motors in any other bikes she had for the race?
3. If it was "her friend's bike" who is her friend? Why does her friend have a motor in his bike?
4. Will Femke Van den Driessche lose her Belgian championship U23 title as a result of the discovery?
Her response to the discovery of the motorized bike:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/femke-van-den-driessche-denies-usin...
Full Article:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-confirms-motorised-doping-uncov...
Views: 358
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by yaj 7.4 on
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I'm just as curious as you to see how this turns out.
The first account I read indicated she had ridden the bike during the race, in that case she would have known it wasn't hers because of the fit.
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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on
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They don't seem to have the story completely straight but I'm sure that will just take a little time while officials are researching the violation.
Velo News does a good job of addressing the impact of last weekend's events for cycling as a whole: http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/01/commentary/making-sense-of-c...
It's a sport that doesn't get a lot of coverage but now, because of that motorized bike, I'm seeing the story getting picked up by just about every news source. This worries me because of the overall impact this could have on the sport.
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And the story about this family just got a little more odd: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-den-driessches-friend-claims-ow...
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Yes, it is! Not your average cycling family - mechanical bike fraud, stolen expensive parakeets, and a doping suspension.
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Permalink Reply by V W on
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How would that not be obvious? How does no one notice a motor? Either you can see a hub motor or it's an external motor that you can see on the frame.
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