Cycling: UCI plans new strategy in the fight against engine doping

The World Cycling Federation (UCI) wants to act even more actively against technological doping. UCI President David Lappartient announced in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport from Milan, together with former team manager Bob Stapleton (Telekom, HTC) on 30 June. January in detail to present a new strategy.

The 44-year-old Frenchman has already mentioned key points:”The association wants to increase the budget for combating this problem in order to be able to employ more experts. Among other things, they are to step up their efforts to combat engine doping with thermal imaging cameras and magnetic resonance examinations.

“We will also support the national cycling federations in combating this phenomenon,”said Lappartient, elected last September to succeed Brian Cookson.

However, the effectiveness of the UCI tests was questioned by a documentary, which also involved ARD. The UCI has carried out 40,000 tests over the past two years in various disciplines and age groups, 4,000 of which were carried out by the World Association’s inspectors who were inspected 4,000 times during the tour of France in July alone.

Results? Negative. Only once was an athlete convicted, in 2016 at the World Cycling Cross Championships, when a forbidden auxiliary engine was found at the Belgian Femke Van den Driessche.

The UCI uses a specially modified tablet for its tests, which can detect hidden motors by means of magnetic resonance analysis. The procedure works, but it is obviously not suitable for detecting advanced modifications.