Pacy Froome now accused of having a motorised bike
MURET, FRANCE: Chris Froome has more to contend with than doping allegations as the Briton seeks a second Tour de France title — he’s also facing accusations of using a motor hidden in his bike.
Technological doping, as it has been called, has not been proved — far from it — but it is widely suspected to exist, and to have been used.
And the speed of Froome when he accelerates has left some convinced it could only have been produced by outside propulsion.
“It seems like the bike is pedalling itself,” said former cyclist Cedric Vasseur.
Froome is not the first person to face accusations of using a motorised bicycle, as Fabian Cancellara’s 2010 victory in the Tour of Flanders also raised more than a few eyebrows. He denied the accusations before, a week later, racing off into the distance to win Paris-Roubaix even more impressively. Authorities have started testing for motors in bicycles, but the tests are rare and target only a few cycles. And, much to the chagrin of many French sceptics at the Tour, Froome’s bike from his stage 10 victory was not tested.
International Cycling Union (UCI) president Brian Cookson insists his organisation is taking the issue seriously.
“We are doing testing, we’ve done testing at Milan-San Remo, the Giro (d’Italia), Paris-Nice and we’ll do tests during the season.”
That includes the Tour, and Froome’s Sky team had their bikes tested following Sunday’s team time trial, with no anomalies found.
Yet according to Hungarian inventor Istvan Varjas, the authorities buried their heads in the sand for too long. In an attempt to dissuade the use of motors, the UCI has banned the changing of unlisted bikes during a race. But there is also the issue of detection as one theory has it that motors that can be activated remotely. AVERMAET WINS STAGE 13 RODEZ, FRANCE: Greg van Avermaet of the BMC team won Stage 13 of the Tour de France with a finishing burst of speed Friday that pushed Peter Sagan into second place for the fourth time at this year’s race. Sagan was kicking himself after he eased up in the final meters (yards). “My stupid mistake,” said the Tinkoff-Saxo rider.
For most of the flat-to-hilly stage from Muret deep in southern France, a group of six low-placed riders rode in a breakaway at the front of the race. But the trailing main pack of riders sped up furiously as the finish in Rodez approached and caught the last of the escapees inside the last kilometer.