Mechanical Doping

Really? That's basic physics in action surely.

hmmmm indeed. It would be funny if it wasn't so alarming.

Love the way he puts the bike down, then quickly picks it up and stops the wheel spinning. Why would you put it down, only to pick it straight back up again unless you something to hide (or at least try to hide, having just not hidden it rather badly)

Not another one of these "look, motor!" videos?

Yup,

Are we saying it's his pedal on the floor as he lays the bike down? Still looks fishy to me.

Link removed from original post...

here it is (from another source). I was too slow to edit. indeed it looks to be the pedal that gives the wheel a push, but him picking up the bike after seemingly noticing this makes it look a little suspect

https://twitter.com/CyclingHubTV/status/727850393615642625

He's just emptied himself to win a stage and wants something to lean on, ffs! There's spectators at the barrier and his bike is to hand. His pedal sets the wheel off as it hits the floor. If you think that's a motor then you should go back to physics classes.

The kid is an 18 year old amateur, widely recognised as one of the brightest talents on the US scene, and you're condemning him based on that clip. Come on.

I removed it, ffs, come on.

Hey Andy, calm down. No ones condemned anyone here. You take this kind of stuff very seriously.

Also, teenage amateurs currently represent 100% of convicted mechanical dopers.

I am calm. Ish. It's being used as clickbait by reputable cycling media sites, which is just reprehensible in my view. It is so obviously caused by his pedal hitting the ground that to even suggest it's mechanised doping annoys me.

m

Turning the pedals makes the wheels turn? What kind of sorcery is this.

I thought cycling was about watching heroin chic models, off their faces, on bikes. People who are skin and bone can't be expected to actually power their bikes, can they?

+1

Are you jokez? Man, every time a wheel moves it's a motor. You can see it slowing down - pretty shitty motor if it can't power an unloaded motor for more than 2s.

She wasn't an amateur.

pana e aqua, baby...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhrYis509A

I think the reason why this has the potential for conspiracy theorists is because you can't see the other pedal on the opposite side turning as the bike is put down, as it's in the shadows cast by the people crowding around. You have to pick these opportunities, they don't come around too often. :)

#bringbackmystery

Omertà of Motor Doping at last years Tour.

http://www.tour-magazin.de/profisport/news/motordoping-neue-vorwuerfe/a41151.html

Viele Team-Manager haben mit mir gesprochen, dass man endlich etwas tun muss. Aber gegenüber der Presse haben die Team-Manager geschwiegen und nichts gesagt.

Wir haben überlegt, ob wir den Zoll einschalten sollen, aber die Einfuhr der Motoren ist nicht verboten. Die Polizei kann auch nichts machen und die UCI habe ich informiert, aber die hat sich darauf konzentriert die Räder zu wiegen. Wir standen da und konnten nichts tun. Ich habe auch an die Wärmebildkamera gedacht, aber wir hätten juristisch nichts machen können.
Für mich war das sehr traurig. Radsport ist wirklich harte Arbeit und es tut weh zu sehen, wie manche das ganze Jahr hart trainieren und dann von anderen so betrogen werden.

From google translate (so I apologise if I missed any nuance in the German):

No, I have no evidence and I have not even seen the manipulated wheels
because I never look at myself wheels.

Sensationalist article without any proof. Useful...

if only there was someone on here who could translate nuanced German for us...

No nuance here but using my a-level German I think he's says he has no proof because he never looks at wheels but he means it more along the lines that he didn't have the authority to and that if those who had the power took this seriously they'd uncover widespread cheating.

I stand to be corrected on all of that though

So, yes sensationalist and without proof but not as baseless as it could be i guess...

He may have no proof, but he does say that he received a lot of tip-offs.

The German of the article is neither particularly nuanced nor particularly good, but the interview reads like a translation from one conducted in French.

Technological fraud to be controlled on the 2016 Tour de France

The French Government, represented by the Secretary of State for Sports Thierry Braillard and Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research Thierry Mandon, and cycling authorities with the UCI President Brian Cookson, French Cycling Federation President David Lappartient and Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, have announced that thermal imaging cameras will be employed to control cases of technological fraud on the 2016 Tour.

"Developed by the CEA (the French Atomic Energy Commission), the method consists of using a thermal imaging camera capable of detecting mechanical anomalies on the riders' bikes. The checks can be made in the race and on the side of the roads."

No Motor(ized) Bikes: Tour De France Unveils New Plan To Catch Cheats

Thermal cameras and other tools that can detect "mechanical doping" — small but powerful motors that boost riders' power levels — will be used in this year's Tour de France, in a change race officials announced just days before the prestigious race's start on July 2.
"This problem is worse than doping," France's Secretary of State for Sports Thierry Braillard tells Le Journal du Dimanche. "This is the future of cycling that's at stake."

Clever