Hermes

The excuse is perfect. It is not my bike. Someone else brought it for me to use. How could I have known.

chasm54

Yes, it's the mechanical equivalent of Spanish beef.

Heathpack 

Hahahaha.

Hermes

I believed him and believe in the Spanish beef story.

Racer Ex 

We are a bit to quick to judge. If the facts as currently presented hold up, you have a U23 women's champ go out with a mechanical and DNF. Her backup bike which they claim wasn't theirs is found to have a motor.

She DNF'd because of a mechanical on her "A" bike and didn't use the backup bike, the fast one with the motor.

Makes perfect sense.

Not.

And somehow the UCI checked a BACKUP bike and found a motor. Though the bike wasn't ridden in competition.

Again, we know how on top of things the UCI is at the U23 World CX championships.

So let me lay out this scenario at the inaugural U23 CX Worlds:

I hate that *****. She keeps beating my daughter. Wait, I have an idea...

Too many coincidences here. It's a bit Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding.

happybday29475

Don't forget that her brother was busted for EPO.

This sounds like a case of truly horrendous parenting.

Racer Ex 

I did not know that.

Information changes the equation. Still odd...

Cleave

Somehow I am just too optimistic and/or naive. I have never thought of doping or cheating and after all of the hoopla over motors the past few years I believed that no one would be crazy/stupid/brash enough to try mechanical doping. Whether or not the named rider intended to use the supplied bike or not is irrelevant. Someone set up a bike with a motor with the intention of cheating. Oy!

Racer Ex 

Mechanical doping is all over. Try to buy a Team GB track bike...

chasm54

Well, I agree that it's odd. But whether or not the presumed guilty party was guilty, we're in interesting territory. Now when someone climbbs like Pantani on the Alpe, we won't be wondering about haematocrit levels, we'll be wondering whether the bike he swapped out after a mechanical gave him a 100 watt boost for the middle 15 minutes of the climb. Try searching for that on his blood passport...

YogaKat

Even if it was a teammate that brought the bike to the pit it doesn't look like a good outcome for any of them.

"According to UCI rules, technological fraud is punishable by disqualification, a suspension at least six months, and a fine of up to 200,000 Swiss francs. A team found guilty of mechanical fraud also could face a suspension and a fine as large as one million francs."

'Technological fraud' discovered at Zolder cyclocross worlds - VeloNews.com

happybday29475

This should be pretty easy detective work. It's a $7k bike; it didn't just appear by accident. Who brought it to the pits? Who purchased it? Who's the mechanic, what's the service history? Where'd the motor come from? How long ago was it installed in the bike? By whom? Who paid for the install?

While I have no idea if all of this information will ever be public, I can't imagine that the prosecutors won't know all of this within a day or two.

chasm54

I've been wondering why I'm more outraged by this than I am by PEDs. After all, they're both cheating.

I think it's because with PEDs, the offender is trying to do something to improve their own physical prowess. It's against the rules, but in principle it's similar to paying attention to what one eats and how one trains in order to maximise one's potential. It doesn't absolve the athletes of doing the work - in fact in many cases the point is to allow them to train harder than they could otherwise tolerate. Unethical, but at least part of a struggle to be better.

But putting a motor in the bike is another thing altogether, it's allowing a cyclist to win without actually pedaling as hard as the other guys. It's the difference between a marathon runner blood-doping and one who jumps on a bus to cover a few miles of the race. It's undignified, that's what it is.

LAJ

I agree, @chasm54. There's no effort invested, which makes it the easiest way to cheat.

chasm54

Speaking of the weather, which we weren't, I wish you colonials would keep your east coast storms to yourselves. They're blowing across the atlantic and disturbing my cycling.

sarals 

Those storms start in the Pacific, give us "much needed rain", create havoc in the midwest, drown the northeast, and THEN come over and disturb your cycling. It's got to have something to do with Donald Trump....

YogaKat

Racer Ex 

So apparently I need a new wheel set.

chasm54

Sheesh. I wonder when it'll get to the point at which teams aren't allowed to service and maintain their own bikes during races?

shovelhd

There's 1200 of the old school mechanical motors out there being ridden for prizes in gran fondos.

Sheesh.

sarals 

I liked Lemond's demo. Good lord, I am just disgusted by this ****.

revchuck 

"250 watts, good for 30 minutes" sounds like me.

shovelhd

The rules are clear. The bike was in the pits with her name on it. The rider and her team are presumed guilty.

Dad is also a shady character.

sarals 

Yeah, her "explanation" was pretty weak. Frank Schleck like "someone poisoned me". Right.

sarals 

I WISH I could make 250 watts for 30 minutes! The again, no I don't. It would be, ummm, suspicious...