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Fabian Cancellera was widely suspected of mechanical doping in Paris Roubaix in 2010 (possibly also the tour of Flanders that year). Since then, however, they

Fabian Cancellera was widely suspected of mechanical doping in Paris Roubaix in 2010 (possibly also the tour of Flanders that year). Since then, however, they x-ray bikes for motors. More importantly, riders aren't switching bikes they way they used to. Greg LeMond claimed Chris Froome used on in the TDF. References: https://www.bennionkearny.com/the-hidden-motor-mechanical-doping-paris-roubaix-fabian-cancellara/ https://www.bennionkearny.com/the-hidden-motor-mechanical-do... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgbvuJCvfxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgbvuJCvfxg

ekianjo 1y ago
so did they find anyone using tiny motors when doing inspections?
- fnands 1y ago
  I don't think they've found anyone on the big tours, but iirc this was the first case of someone getting caught: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963 https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963
  - tdeck 1y ago
    The excuse of the cyclist in this article is hilarious. "My friend just so happened to have an identical looking bike with an extremely rare stealth motor setup and it got swapped for mine, and I as a professional cyclist didn't notice that."
tokai 1y ago
Greg LeMond has been on a whole motodoping tour online recently to stay relevant. He clearly does not understand modern cycling and he has a ton of people he wants to put down for the sake of his own reputation. There is not reason to believe him more than a crazy uncle.
- IncreasePosts 1y ago
  Yes, that's what people said about him when he was speaking against doping in the late 90s/early 2000s too. Remember when he was forced to issue an apology to Lance Armstrong for calling out his relationship with Dr. Ferrari(doping connoisseur)?
  - stockresearcher 1y ago
    It’s too bad LeMond sold his bike company to Trek. I have a small collection of American-made bikes. Every single one of the brands was acquired by Trek and then shut down a few years later… The LeMond is probably my favorite. Great geometry, great road feel, and a fantastic paint job. I put some new wheels on it this spring and it gives it such a rad look. Totally modern and retro at the same time. Such a bike would sell really well right now.
    - le-mark 1y ago
      I worked in a shop that sold LeMond bikes back in the 90s. Iirc they were generally a chromolly lugged frame. At the time a lot of the high end bikes were the same. Are these not common nowadays?
      - stockresearcher 1y ago
        No idea about date ranges, but they were using Reynolds 853 and TT OX Platinum. Very high quality steel, and not something you’d get on anything mass market https://frugalaveragebicyclist.com/2022/05/15/guide-to-vintage-road-bike-steel-frame-tube-manufacturers-and-types/ https://frugalaveragebicyclist.com/2022/05/15/guide-to-vinta...
        marklubi 1y ago
        That Reynolds 853... drool. When I raced mountain bikes a couple decades ago, that was what my hardtail was made of. Just 20.5 lbs for a steel frame bike was nuts at the time, and that bike was a rocket ship. Still have it. My son wanted to try it one day, his response was "that bike wants to go fast" Edit: I also had aluminum (too stiff) and titanium frames (too flexible, or floppy as I called it). The 853 was excellent
sidibe 1y ago
Froome was just good old fashioned doping.
Luc 1y ago
> Fabian Cancellera was widely suspected of mechanical doping I don't think the opinions of these fringe conspiracy theorists were ever widely held. Not in the cycling world, not among people with an understanding of physics, and not among the general public.
- _Wintermute 1y ago
  I think it was largely pushed by Phil Gaimon who was trying to get into the news to sell his new (at the time) book.
- cycomanic 1y ago
  This is definitely not fringe conspiracy theorists. In fact I would argue that it's largely people familiar with the sport that are skeptical. It was the same during the Amstrong times. I was racing as an amateur during those years, and lots of people were quite open about doping, i.e. everyone new someone who had been on training camp with people who were using, people asked others what they used... This particularly known for the top amateurs and continental pros. If you brought this up with regular cycling fans (particularly in the english speaking sphere), you would get accused of being a conspiracy theorist, that the top talent would not need to do this (only the talentless masses who could not make it otherwise...). Which is such a weird argument considering the gains we knew about. Well we know how history turned out. Considering that it's the same people running the show (I encourage anyone to look into the history of Mauro Gianetti who believes that UAE would not do everything for a win), I believe everything we hear about is just the tip of the iceberg and reality is much worse. Cycling lost their right to benefit of the doubt a long time ago. As a side note, I don't believe they will every catch a high profile rider with those motor tests. Nobody actually wants to catch them, just imagine they find Pogacar was using a motor, that would be the death of cycling as a marketable sport. That would be swept under the carpet, just like Amstrongs positive EPO test was initially.

ekianjo 1y ago

so did they find anyone using tiny motors when doing inspections?

fnands 1y ago
I don't think they've found anyone on the big tours, but iirc this was the first case of someone getting caught: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963 https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36142963
- tdeck 1y ago
  The excuse of the cyclist in this article is hilarious. "My friend just so happened to have an identical looking bike with an extremely rare stealth motor setup and it got swapped for mine, and I as a professional cyclist didn't notice that."

tokai 1y ago

Greg LeMond has been on a whole motodoping tour online recently to stay relevant. He clearly does not understand modern cycling and he has a ton of people he wants to put down for the sake of his own reputation. There is not reason to believe him more than a crazy uncle.

IncreasePosts 1y ago
Yes, that's what people said about him when he was speaking against doping in the late 90s/early 2000s too. Remember when he was forced to issue an apology to Lance Armstrong for calling out his relationship with Dr. Ferrari(doping connoisseur)?
- stockresearcher 1y ago
  It’s too bad LeMond sold his bike company to Trek. I have a small collection of American-made bikes. Every single one of the brands was acquired by Trek and then shut down a few years later… The LeMond is probably my favorite. Great geometry, great road feel, and a fantastic paint job. I put some new wheels on it this spring and it gives it such a rad look. Totally modern and retro at the same time. Such a bike would sell really well right now.
  - le-mark 1y ago
    I worked in a shop that sold LeMond bikes back in the 90s. Iirc they were generally a chromolly lugged frame. At the time a lot of the high end bikes were the same. Are these not common nowadays?
    - stockresearcher 1y ago
      No idea about date ranges, but they were using Reynolds 853 and TT OX Platinum. Very high quality steel, and not something you’d get on anything mass market https://frugalaveragebicyclist.com/2022/05/15/guide-to-vintage-road-bike-steel-frame-tube-manufacturers-and-types/ https://frugalaveragebicyclist.com/2022/05/15/guide-to-vinta...
      - marklubi 1y ago
        That Reynolds 853... drool. When I raced mountain bikes a couple decades ago, that was what my hardtail was made of. Just 20.5 lbs for a steel frame bike was nuts at the time, and that bike was a rocket ship. Still have it. My son wanted to try it one day, his response was "that bike wants to go fast" Edit: I also had aluminum (too stiff) and titanium frames (too flexible, or floppy as I called it). The 853 was excellent

sidibe 1y ago

Froome was just good old fashioned doping.

Luc 1y ago

> Fabian Cancellera was widely suspected of mechanical doping I don't think the opinions of these fringe conspiracy theorists were ever widely held. Not in the cycling world, not among people with an understanding of physics, and not among the general public.

_Wintermute 1y ago
I think it was largely pushed by Phil Gaimon who was trying to get into the news to sell his new (at the time) book.
cycomanic 1y ago
This is definitely not fringe conspiracy theorists. In fact I would argue that it's largely people familiar with the sport that are skeptical. It was the same during the Amstrong times. I was racing as an amateur during those years, and lots of people were quite open about doping, i.e. everyone new someone who had been on training camp with people who were using, people asked others what they used... This particularly known for the top amateurs and continental pros. If you brought this up with regular cycling fans (particularly in the english speaking sphere), you would get accused of being a conspiracy theorist, that the top talent would not need to do this (only the talentless masses who could not make it otherwise...). Which is such a weird argument considering the gains we knew about. Well we know how history turned out. Considering that it's the same people running the show (I encourage anyone to look into the history of Mauro Gianetti who believes that UAE would not do everything for a win), I believe everything we hear about is just the tip of the iceberg and reality is much worse. Cycling lost their right to benefit of the doubt a long time ago. As a side note, I don't believe they will every catch a high profile rider with those motor tests. Nobody actually wants to catch them, just imagine they find Pogacar was using a motor, that would be the death of cycling as a marketable sport. That would be swept under the carpet, just like Amstrongs positive EPO test was initially.