Cookson warns cheats as UCI showcases motor detection method

AIGLE, Switzerland: Cheats will   not prosper was the message of   International Cycling Union (UCI)   president Brian Cookson on   Tuesday as the governing body   stepped up its fight against mechanical   fraud by showcasing a   new method to detect hidden   motors in bikes.   Earlier this year, Belgian rider   Femke van den Driessche was   handed a six-year ban for mechanical   doping after it was   proven her spare bike contained   a motor at the cyclocross Under-   23 world championship in January.   Last month, television station   France 2, in collaboration with   Italian newspaper Corriere della   Sera, claimed that hidden motors   were used in the Strade Bianche   one-day race and the Coppi e   Bartali race in Italy this season.   France 2 and Corriere della   Sera used thermal imaging to   support their claims that motors   had been concealed, although   they said they could not prove   cheating beyond all reasonable   doubt.   The UCI’s technical manager   Mark Barfield told reporters at the   governing body’s headquarters   that their method to detect motors   uses a magnetic resonance   test involving an iPad and an   adapter.   The system measures resistance   in the magnetic field to give   an indication if a motor is present.   Cookson says the technology   will help them root out cheats.   “So the message that I want to   give out to anyone who is considering   cheating in this way is   that we will find a way and we will   catch you sooner or later and the   chances are, it will be sooner,” he   said.   “The very first time we deployed   this equipment, we   caught somebody and that’s a   real message I think to the   cheaters.”   Cookson added that the   UCI’s technology was a better   way of trapping cheats than   using thermal imaging devices.   The system using thermal imaging   cameras is not as reliable   and not as foolproof as the system   that we’ve developed,” he   said.   “But we can look at using   thermal imaging to supplement   our system as well and we will   maybe do that from time to time,”   he added. Barfield said that the   UCI would be stepping up their   testing regime.   “So far this year, we’ve tested   two and a half thousand bicycles   already,” he said.   “I would imagine that number   will be somewhere between 10   and 12 thousand bikes by the   end of the year.” —Reuters