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Bike Doping, the next frontier

Bike Doping has been in the news recently after recent races in Europe. If you are not really sure how this works then the concept is simple. Essentially the bike mechanics insert an electric motor into the bike frame. The bike still looks like all the others around it and when the button on the brake hood is pressed the bike can deliver some 50 more watts of power pushing the bike up to 50kmph. The engine is inserted into the seat tube and is only around 22cm long. The rider in question then shifts and hits the button and literally rides out of sight.

The rider in question who is said to have transgressed is Fabian Cancellara from the Saxo Bank Team. His win at the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix have been brought into question. But we are not here to debate the innocence of Cancellara we really don't think that's an issue, yet. Saxo Bank went as far as to issue a statement;

"Team Saxo Bank rejects all insinuations and accusations that have been made in the media regarding Fabian Cancellara's alleged use of an electric motor in his bike. Team Saxo Bank is strongly opposed to any form of cheating and there is absolutely no truth to this story. There was not and never has been a motor in any Team Saxo Bank rider's bike."

So for us, like all the other allegations of wrong doing that we hear, until there is proof, we are not labeling or accusing anyone. However the Saxo Bank team has been embroiled in this after the Spring Classics. Whether this is fact or science fiction is anyone's guess.

So is this something that may cross over into the triathlon world? There would have been plenty of athletes that have thought about installing a motor to their bikes as they were battling their way through the 180km of an Ironman. But this occurrence would be a very rare thing indeed. We spoke to a few professional athletes about this who did state that it was the lowest form of cheating. One went as far as to say that it was more dishonourable than blood doping.

But we don't think this has occurred in triathlon. There is a slight noise with the motor apparently. Not so that you could readily detect but the average speed would definitely be a factor. The Cancellara speculation centres around certain parts of the course but in triathlon it might be easy to switch this on and disappear up the road.

The other side of this argument is if a motor was being used then run times of that cheating athlete would reflect that. There has been no real flyer on the run courses of recent times. There has been  more conjecture on the accuracy of the courses as multiple athletes are running quick splits. When you think about this issue it pales in comparison.

But this is what the two wheeled sports have come to. Not only do officials have to worry about the inevitable blood doping that occurs and has occurred they will need to start checking bikes more carefully. Are they now going to install x ray machines at triathlons to ward off this threat?

Most things in cycling generally find their way into the triathlon world sooner or later but this one seems to be a little more extreme than the rest. But then so too have the many forms of cheating we have seen over the years. Unfortunately this will rear it's head in the future we are sure.

With bike doping we can only shake our heads and ask what's next?

Two Italians Michele Bufalino and Alberto Pinisino have made this video that basically explains everything and puts Cancellara on trial. To take a look and see what all the talk is about then click here.