An Italian, 53-year old cyclist was yesterday’s news after being caught with a small, electric motor installed in his bike. The Italian rider was reportedly participating in a competition in Bedizzole on Saturday when the organizers discovered the motor which was concealed within the frame of his bike.
The weird discovery was done through a thermal camera the race organizers use to analyze and scan possible suspicious bikes.
The amateur sport’s body managing the race, Centro Sportivo Italiano which is directly linked with the Italian Olympic Committee, gave an official declaration regarding the matter. Emiliano Scalfi, the vice-president of the Centro Sportivo Italiano, admitted to be one of the first to see the heat generated by the bike.
“We had some precise information and we proceeded accordingly. When we looked, we saw that in the seat tube of one rider it looked as though there was a fire.”- said Scalfi to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Post-race events
The 53-year old rider managed to take the third place of the race. He then was immediately asked to deliver his bike for a further examination. After the inspection, everything seemed clear enough.
“We invited the rider to go with two commissaries to an authorized Centre to check the bike. But at that point, he admitted his guilt. Inside the bike, he had a motor.” – added Scalfi.
This is considered to be the second incident belonging to the ‘mechanical doping’ category or ‘technological fraud’. A while ago, UCI registered another one in a race where Femke Van Drissche was participating in.
He had his bike containing a helping motor while participating at the Cyclo-cross World Championships back in 2016. The final decision was made and Van Den Driessche was automatically banned for six year. He also fined 20,000 Swiaa Francs by the UCI.
