Cycling, a sport infamous for abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, must get to grips with the mechanical doping of bikes, says Lily Hay Newman

A hidden motor was found in the bike of Belgian rider Femke Van Den Driessche YORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images

Usually when we think of performance enhancing in professional sports we think of drug cheats. But there are other, more externalised approaches too. Equipment tweaks in things like swimsuit material or ball inflation can potentially do just as much as doping to affect outcomes.

But a new trend in professional cycling involves some hilariously blatant scamming: riders are installing electric motors on their bikes.

On Sunday, journalists at Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and French TV network Stade 2 published evidence alleging seven cyclists were using hidden bike enhancements at two races in Italy last month. The International Cycling Union (UCI) has been using iPads to check bikes for electromagnetic irregularities, but the journalists used thermal cameras to collect additional data.


Speculation about tiny, battery-powered motors in the sport started around 2010. At the time, a spokesperson for the ICU told The New York Times: “Maybe we are facing a general problem. You never know with technology.”

In January, these concerns finally bore out when the UCI began investigating “technological fraud”. It discovered that 19-year-old Belgian competitor Femke Van den Driessche had a hidden electric motor on the bike she used in an off-road cyclo-cross competition. “We believe that it was indeed technological doping,” said UCI president Brian Cookson.

The Corriere della Sera and Stade 2 journalists allege that five riders were using electric motors similar to Van den Driessche’s, and two others had magnetic propulsion systems on their rear wheels. These electromagnetic wheels can add 20 to 60 watts of power on top of someone’s pedalling.

Power boost

Hidden motors can add up to 200 watts, though probably closer to about 100 watts in practice. A February article about the technologies in Gazzetta dello Sport stated: “You can do more miracles with electricity than chemistry.”

Electromagnetic wheel systems are somewhat mysterious and don’t seem to be sold openly, but electric motors are a consumer product marketed for the average rider. Who wouldn’t want an extra boost on the way to work or the grocery store?

So-called “e-bikes” like the Raleigh Detour iE cost about $2000 to $3000 and proudly advertise their motors. But conversion kits like the Vivax-Assist and E-BikeKit can be in a similar price range or higher, especially if you are paying for special low-profile options like Vivax’s “Invisible Performance Package”.

Vivax told Cyclist magazine in October that it hadn’t been contacted by the UCI and that its customers were mainly people over 60 who were trying to keep up with riding buddies.

Though electromagnetic wheels are no better, you can at least see how an athlete could justify them as a sort of equipment upgrade. Concealed motors, though, are just flat-out ridiculous. You’re basically doing a biking competition on a motorcycle.

The UCI clearly needs to continue improving its bike-scanning tech. Meanwhile, athletes should stop cheating. Or at the very least have some dignity about keeping the techniques subtle.

This article was first published on Slate