Although mechanical doping has been hinted at for many years, now there is finally a case. Belgian Cyclocross rider, Femke Van den Driessche has been caught using a motor at the World Championships although at the moment, she denies having used the affected bike in the race. The motor was found in the bottom bracket region of the bike. Ironically, she abandoned the race due to a mechanical fault. Whilst we will see if she is telling the truth and if she ever will be allowed to race again, this is very serious for cycling as a sport.

I don’t understand why people feel the need to cheat. Cycling is a sport, and sport is something that can be done recreationally or competitively but cheating makes the sport look like a business and isn’t a testament of natural talent. Undoubtedly, the UCI will be cracking down on checking bikes and will hopefully catch anyone else cheating. But the notion of motorised cheating has been something that for years has been dismissed now is very much a reality.