One of the problems with compliance is that the fraudsters seem to be one step ahead of the regulators. The regulators try to push out rules to prevent bad behavior. Regulators look at their charges to find cheating. But the cheaters are often one step ahead. We saw this in professional cycling over the weekend.
Professional cycling has been rife with cheating throughout its history. It’s a brutal sport so contenders are always looking for a little edge to get them to the finish line first.
Of course, there was Lance Armstrong and the doping of the 1990s. Cycling was not alone. Baseball had its own issues at the same time. Regulators seem to have caught up with cheaters, flushing a lot of the doping out.
This weekend regulators found a new kind of cheating.
Race officials found a motor in the bike of Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche. Yes, a motor. In her bike frame.
A rumor about motor doping popped up last year. During the 2015 Tour de France race officials checked several bikes, but never found anything. It seemed like a possibility that battery technology could catch up to make a motor and power sources small enough to fit unnoticed in a bike frame. The key would reducing the weight so that whatever power was generated would not be overcome by the additional weight of the machinery.
Apparently that time has come. Although Ms. Van den Driessche denies she cheated:
“I didn’t know anything about it. I don’t know how that bike got there. I was surprised to see that bike standing there. It’s not my bike. There’s been a mistake.”
Incidentally, Van den Driessche’s brother Niels is currently suspended for doping.
Regardless of whether she cheated, it is clear that the technology is here. Regulators will have a new round of checks on race winners, looking at their bikes as well their blood.
Sources:
- Vrooom! Cycling’s New Scandal Is a Motor by Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal
- Femke Van den Driessche denies using motor at cyclo-cross World Championships in Cycling News
- Hidden motors for road bikes exist — here’s how they work by Matt de Neef in Cycling Tips