You are forgiven for letting le Tour slide from your attention. Much of the race is no longer on prime-time television, there hasn鈥檛 been a compelling American contender for years, and the near constant stream of doping scandals is enough to make anyone tune out. But there are still reasons to care. Everyday athletes can learn a lot from cyclists who pedal 2,188 miles in 23 days at an intensity most of us would have trouble sustaining for two city blocks. On the eve of the 104th running of the world鈥檚 biggest bike race, we reached out to a few Tour stalwarts for the best (legal) training hacks for the rest of us.听

Hit the Gym

闯辞别听顿辞尘产谤辞飞蝉办颈, Tour hopeful, team Cannondale-Drapac

鈥淔ocusing exclusively on endurance isn鈥檛 healthy. There鈥檚 a lot of hormonal suppression that comes with huge volumes of that type of training. Balance it out with some time in the听weight room. You鈥檒l improve bone density and connective颅tissue strength, which will help curb overuse injuries and keep you in one piece when you crash.鈥�

Avoid the Rut

础苍诲谤别飞听罢补濒补苍蝉办测,听three-time Tour racer, team听Cannondale-Drapac

鈥淧eople鈥攅ven pros鈥攕pend too much time riding at a pace that鈥檚 not exactly easy but also not hard enough to produce results. They never recover or improve. Don鈥檛 get stuck in the middle. On your easy days, take it really easy鈥攜ou should be able to pedal and talk normally without huffing and puffing. On your hard days, challenge yourself. Join a club ride that鈥檚 above your comfort level and see how long you can hang. Try to break your record on the local hill climb. Race your friends to every city-limits sign. I guarantee you鈥檒l get stronger and have more fun.鈥�

Eat Smart

Peter Stetina,听two-time Tour racer, team

鈥淵our digestive system can absorb about 300 calories per hour during exercise鈥攁bout one energy bar and one sports drink. Any more than that and you risk听loading up your gut. You鈥檒l want to stick with solid food at first; only switch to gummies or gels in the last 90 minutes of a ride or race. Gels are like nitrous, and as every good racer knows, you never hit the nitrous button too early.鈥澨�

Suck It Up

Chris Carmichael,听former Tour racer for team 7-11; founder of 听

鈥�Something always hurts. Bike manufacturers and fit specialists have convinced people that all discomfort can be eliminated from cycling, but there is almost never a time when everything feels right. So rest鈥攖hat鈥檚 important鈥攂ut know that you can鈥檛 always wait until you feel perfect before you get back on the bike.”

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On the eve of the presidential election, I want to bring attention to a little-known fact about one of the candidates: Donald Trump was once at the center of the U.S. cycling world.听

The year was 1989 and cycling was听on the national radar. U.S. riders Greg LeMond and Andy Hampsten had, respectively, won the Tour de France and the Giro d鈥橧talia. We were suddenly a force to be reckoned with in European cycling. But where was our Tour de America? The 1988 demise of the Coors Classic had created a void, one which Donald Trump jumped into a year later with the Tour de Trump.听

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sbHNk5oZQK8%3Frel%3D0

The inaugural Tour de Trump was a 10-day, 837-mile race that wound through five eastern states, beginning in Albany, New York, and finishing at Atlantic City in front of听the Trump Plaza and Casino. 鈥淔or a first-year race, it was impressive,鈥� recalls Ron Kiefel, who won that final stage in Atlantic City and whose team, the hallowed 7-Eleven squad, also fielded the overall race winner, Dag Otto Lauritzen of Norway.

鈥淭here were plenty of fans cheering us on at every start and finish,鈥� says Kiefel. 鈥淧lus the promoters were offering big prize money on every stage鈥�$250,000 total. That was one of the reasons so many of the big teams of the day chose to race Tour de Trump instead of the Vuelta a Espa帽a, which was going on at the same time.鈥�

One-hundred and fourteen听riders from fifteen countries rode the inaugural stage race. NBC signed on as a sponsor, guaranteeing plenty of televised coverage and Trump did what he does best鈥攈e hyped the event, predicting a future where听his Tour spanned the nation. 鈥淚 think this is an event that can be tremendous in the future and it could very much rival the Tour de France,鈥� Trump told NBC News听in 1989.听

That illustrious future didn't pan out. The Tour de Trump grew slightly in 1990, but Trump鈥檚 looming financial problems (his Atlantic City casinos were teetering toward bankruptcy), forced him to step down as the title sponsor. The Tour picked up a new sponsor in 1991, carrying on for five years as the Tour DuPont before听folding听after the race鈥檚 namesake , who led DuPont鈥檚 Team Foxcatcher wrestling team.听

Given its eventual demise, it鈥檚 easy to write off the Tour de Trump as a billionaire鈥檚 boondoggle, but for seven years the event did attract听many of the world鈥檚 best riders. Trump鈥檚 Tour isn't a complete failure. At worst, the mogul鈥檚 promise to create a race as great as the Tour de France was simply too ambitious. 鈥淓veryone always wants to create the next Tour de France, but there is only one Tour de France and that鈥檚 the bottom line,鈥� says Kiefel, who's competed in that hallowed Grand Tour race听seven times. 鈥淏ut it was a top-class, world-caliber event.鈥�

Why has America struggled for decades to create a tour that truly challenges the European Classics? 鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 our culture or the fact that it's just so expensive to put on a race like this,鈥� says Kiefel. 鈥淏ut from a rider鈥檚 perspective, the Tour de Trump was a success. The quality of any race always comes down to the quality of the riders and听how hard they are willing to push it. There should be听great battles, sprint finishes, and good crowds. The Tour de Trump had all that.鈥�

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What a difference a year makes. In 2015, the Union Cycliste Internationale (competitive cycling鈥檚 governing body) caught flak when its officials inspected 25 bikes for hidden motors during the Tour de France.

Super-secret electric bikes? The very notion was laughable. Well, nobody is听chuckling at the UCI now, not after its inspectors caught Belgian racer Femke Van den Driessche with a motor tucked inside the seat听tube of her bike during the World Cyclocross Championships last January. Suddenly, several years鈥� worth of rumors didn鈥檛 seem quite so silly.

The UCI has stepped up its game. The organization was on track to make听as many as 4,000 unannounced bike checks at this year鈥檚 edition of the Tour de France, using a combination of thermal imaging cameras, its own magnetic field scanner, and a mobile X-ray machine on loan from the French government.

So what exactly is the UCI听looking for? What kind of motors are we actually talking about? Here鈥檚 the breakdown.

One Well-Known Retrofit Kit

The Vivax Assist is the best-known concealed motor and the model found in Van de Driessche鈥檚 bike during the infamous bust. While the 3.9-pound motor and battery assembly is rated at 200 watts, it actually supplies 110 watts of power to the cranks for as long as 90 minutes. If that doesn鈥檛 sound terribly impressive, rest assured听it鈥檚 more than enough of a boost to drop competitors.

The tube-shaped motor features a beveled gear that meshes with another beveled gear mounted on a standard听Shimano bottom-bracket spindle. A battery stowed inside a water bottle powers the motor.

The Vivax Assist has been available as an upgrade kit since 2008. In the United States, you can expect to pay about $4,000 for the kit alone. Is Vivax the only outfit supplying such motors? It鈥檚听the only company doing so openly. How many individuals are building and supplying cyclists with motors in a more discreet fashion? No one knows.

A Few Ready-to-Roll Bikes

Only a few companies sell听complete bikes outfitted with concealed motors. Vivax, not surprisingly, sells its own house-brand Forza CF carbon road frame听outfitted with its motor and crank assembly for 4,999 euros (about $5,540). Goat Bikes is a small operation from the United Kingdom that also sells Vivax-equipped bikes,听including an aluminum road bike called the Race that retails for 4,499 euros听($4,985).

The newest entry to the market is Monaco-based Typhoon Bicycles. The budding brand recently launched carbon-fiber models containing Typhoon鈥檚 patented e-Assist battery and motor system. Typhoon claims its motor offers three distinct power modes (50 to听70 watts, 130 to听160 watts, and up to 250 watts)听at the push of a button. The price for its entry-level听carbon-fiber road bike? A cool 8,000 euros听($8,865).

Magnetic Wheels:听The New Frontier

A few journalists contend there鈥檚 yet another variant of mechanized cheating on the rise that requires no motor at all鈥攅lectromagnetic wheels. Claudio Ghisalberti, writing for the Italian newspaper听Gazzetta dello Sport, claims to have met with a confidential source who creates electromagnetic rear wheels that provide an extra 60听watts of power and sell for a staggering 200,000 euros ($221,570).

Similarly, reporters Thierry Vildary and Marco Bonarrigo met with Istvan Varjas, an engineer and former racer who has been building concealed bike motors for more than a decade. Varjas claims to have also developed an electromagnetic wheel.听According to the engineer, neodymium magnets concealed within the sidewall of a deep-section carbon rim generate an induction force when they rotate past battery-charged electromagnets housed within the bike鈥檚 chainstays and/or seatstays. Varjas claims the system can be activated via a Bluetooth device. 听The Varjas interview aired in April on the French television program听Stade 2.

听

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In short, very.听

鈥淚f you took one of these racers and you presented him to a normal doctor, without telling the doctor that this rider had just been in the Tour de France, the doctor would think he was on the edge of becoming anorexic,鈥� says Jens Voigt, who recently retired from professional听racing and is now the cycling analyst for NBC Sports. 鈥淗e would send the racer to a psychologist for counseling. It鈥檚 an artificially low body weight, but the Tour does that to you.鈥�

Contenders for the yellow jersey now sport between four and six percent body fat. Let鈥檚 put that in context.听When people drop below three percent body fat, they run a risk of dying. Many of these racers spend the entire season paring their body weight down so that they arrive at the Tour as lean听as possible.听Voigt speaks from personal experience, who says he started each Tour at 4.5 percent body fat and generally finished at 3.8 percent.

Why the fixation with being lean? It comes down to maximizing your power-to-weight ratio. Or, to put that in less egg-headed terms, if two competitors produce the same power on the bike, the lighter one will almost always be able to accelerate and drop their heavier competition on the big mountain climbs, where this race is often won and lost.听

In a race decided by seconds, weight matters. A number of Tour de France winners began their careers with entirely unimpressive results, dropped weight,听and returned a skinnier winner. Miguel Indurain, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, and, perhaps most famously, Lance Armstrong are all examples.听

鈥淚 was a swimmer and I was always stuck with a swimmer鈥檚 body,鈥� says Armstrong, who started his competitive life as a triathlete and retained a heavily muscled upper body. It was a build well suited to winning one-day races, but which proved a liability in multi-week tours studded with long climbing stages. When Armstrong returned to cycling after his bout with cancer, he was 20 pounds lighter and worlds faster on the climbs.听

鈥淏eing lean is all about the three or four months before the Tour and鈥攍et鈥檚 be honest here鈥攖his is just about starvation,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or me to get down to 163 pounds and still be four percent [body fat]? I鈥檒l tell you, in those months leading up to the Tour, you鈥檙e just hungry, man.鈥�

Being so lean, however, is not only difficult to maintain, but risky as well. A certain amount of body fat (usually around six percent for athletic men) is necessary for maintaining health. With their reserves pushed to the absolute limits, riders who maintain a body fat percentage below five percent for an extended period run numerous risks: muscles atrophy, energy levels plummet and their immune systems take a hit. Sick and worn out during the middle of the Tour is an even greater roadblock to victory than carrying an extra pound of fat.

鈥淏ut here鈥檚 the thing,鈥� says Armstrong, 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 happen every year, but in the first week of the Tour, the weather can be weird and you can get caught in a cold rain. When guys get听too lean, they get sick easily because their reserves are so low. So there鈥檚 this dance you have to do鈥攜ou want to be light so you can fly over the mountains, but if you get caught with a shiver on one bad day in the North, you鈥檙e done. You鈥檙e screwed.鈥�

When I press Armstrong on the details of his own Tour de France diet, he shrugs the question off.听

鈥淚f you made a big mistake and didn鈥檛 eat enough the night before the race, that matters,鈥� says Armstrong. 鈥淏ut if we鈥檙e talking about one energy bar over another, or one chef or nutritionist over another鈥 don鈥檛 think it matters. You find something that works for you and you just stick with it.鈥�

So what worked for him?

鈥淪troopwafels鈥攋ust these shitty, toxic cookie things that you鈥檇 find right next to the Oreos at the corner store in Belgium. Those are what I existed on during each day鈥檚 race for the last three of four Tours. I liked the taste and it was loaded with calories, probably not the best calories, actually, but I was a creature of habit. It tasted good and I never bonked, so why change?鈥�

The post How Skinny Are the Top Tour de France Riders, Really? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The Tour de France is one of the most punishing endurance event on earth. Twenty-three days and nearly 2,200 miles long, it鈥檚 akin to running a marathon every day for nearly three straight weeks. No surprise, cycling鈥檚 most prestigious race exacts a tremendous toll on competitors. On average, each racer will consume as much as 8,000 calories per day. That鈥檚 three to four times what nutritionists recommend for the rest of us.

And yet obtaining those calories is no longer a matter of shoveling as much food down your gullet as possible. There鈥檚 too much at stake today for such a slipshod approach. Careers, glory, and millions of dollars in sponsor contracts and endorsements ride on the outcome of this Tour, which is why every detail of these racers鈥� lives has been fine tuned in preparation for these three weeks in July鈥攁nd that includes when, what, and how they eat.听

Upon Waking Up: The moment riders rise, they often drain a glass of juice, which听gives a quick bump of energy and starts the rehydration process.听

At Team Breakfast: Gone are the days of heavy steak breakfasts. Nowadays, riders sit down to a better balance of carbs and protein. There鈥檚 rice, oatmeal, pasta, muesli, eggs, yogurt, breads, and plenty of fluids. It鈥檚 a big breakfast鈥攁s in 1,000 to 1,500 calories big.

On the Way to the Starting Line: There鈥檚 usually a three-hour gap between breakfast and the actual race start. Remember that 1,500-calorie breakfast (and the 2,500-calorie dinner from the night before)? 鈥淭he toilet on the bus is a very, very popular place,鈥� says Allen Lim, founder of nutrition company听Skratch Labs,听鈥渂ecause no one wants to start a four to six-hour race with a ton of food in their bowels.鈥� Riders, however, are still topping off the tank, eating and drinking on the bus.听

On the Bike: Racers are tearing through 700-1,000 calories per hour while on the bike, and that means eating the moment they begin riding.听Solids鈥攍ike paninis, rice cakes, and fruit鈥攑rovide energy for the long haul and are generally the go-to items for the first half of each stage. Later in the race,听as the pace typically picks up,听easy-to-consume energy bars and gels come in handy. Riders are also drinking constantly鈥攁bout 16 to 24 ounces of water and electrolyte solutions per hour.听

鈥淚f you look inside a musette bag, you鈥檒l see that stuff in there鈥攜our gels and bars鈥攂ut you鈥檒l also have something like an apple tart from the local bakery, wrapped up in tin foil,鈥� says Lance Armstrong. 鈥淚 guarantee you, every dude eats that tart.鈥�

Back on the Bus: Recovery time. Despite eating throughout the race, each rider is in serious calorie-deficit mode now. Their bodies can only absorb between 250 and 300 calories per hour while riding,听and they鈥檝e been burning at least twice that amount. Once they ditch the funky chamois and shower, they are back on the tour bus, guzzling protein-and-carbohydrate recovery shakes and eating rice, boiled potatoes and other carbohydrates to help recharge their spent glycogen stores. There鈥檚 a 20-minute golden window when their body best absorbs these calories and nutrients.

During Dinner: This is the big opportunity to restore what鈥檚 been lost. Riders will consume between 2,000 and 2,500 calories of听a carefully prepared mix of carbs, protein, and fat. This includes pasta, rice, quinoa, and lean meats.听鈥淚t鈥檚 also a good time for salad and vegetables,鈥� says Lim. 鈥淩iders need these nutrients and this is the best time to take fiber on board, since they have the time now to digest it.鈥�

At Bed Time: Riders often grab another protein shake,听a bowl of cereal, or听yogurt before hitting the sack. As with dinner, protein is a must at this time, as it helps repair muscles that have taken a hit during the day鈥檚 racing.听

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Jens Voigt can tell you all about long, repetitive stage races and how much food it takes to survive them. In his 18 years as a pro, Voigt raced in 17 editions of the Tour de France, winning three stages and donning the race leader鈥檚 le maillot jaune (yellow jersey) twice. No man has ridden in more Tours.听

鈥淭here are times during the later stages of the Tour,鈥� says Voigt, 鈥渨hen you are so worn out, that you can barely lift a fork to your mouth during dinner. You can hardly chew anymore. It鈥檚 too much of an effort.鈥�

But what鈥檚 getting lifted onto that fork? And has Voigt seen a change in how racers eat? We made it our mission to find out.

The short version: Things have changed, big time. 鈥淭he bottles of wine and the French baguettes are gone,鈥� says Voigt, who recently retired and is now the cycling analyst for NBC Sports.鈥淚t has to be healthy, whole grain鈥� and Quinoa鈥攖hat鈥檚 real popular at the moment.鈥� The long version: See below.

Early Days: The Wheeled Locusts (1903-1920)

When Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France in 1903, it was less a race and more a gulag on wheels. Competitors pedaled 40-pound, single-speeds along dirt roads for 15 to 18 hours a day. There were no teams. In fact, race regulations required that riders fend entirely for themselves, forcing them to scavenge for meals along the way. If the lights were on at a roadside tavern and they were serving rabbit, rabbit is what you ate. Guzzling alarming amounts of alcohol was the norm. Beer, wine, and brandy were considered safer to drink than water from questionable roadside wells or springs.

Though Garin never gave an account of his Tour diet, he did recall consuming the following items a few years earlier during a 24-hour race:

• 45 cutlets
• 19 liters of hot chocolate听听 听
• 8 cooked eggs听听 听听听 听听听 听
• 7 liters of tea
• 5 liters of tapioca
• 2 kilos of rice
• Lots of strong red wine
• Coffee, champagne鈥nd oysters

Forty-five cutlets during a day鈥檚 racing? It boggles the mind. And, given the specificity of Garin鈥檚 list, you have to wonder just how much wine you must drink before you simply give up and start calling it 鈥渓ots.鈥�

Egg Custard in Your Water Bottle and Steak at 7 a.m. (1920 to 1980)

The era of the scavenger racer was long gone by the time Fausto Coppi听began dominating stage racing and one-day classics听in the forties. Known as Il Campionissimo (鈥渢he champion of champions鈥�), the great Italian racer won scores of grand tours, including the 1949 and 1952 Tour de France. Riders now competed on teams and ate their breakfasts and dinners at hotels along the route. Most riders, however, still consumed massive meat-heavy breakfasts and waited until after the first 100 kilometers of racing before rummaging through their musettes, the small bags of food snatched up at feed zones. 听

Meat gave you 鈥渆nergy,鈥� or so tradition held. 鈥淲e ate at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, before the race,鈥� Eddy Merckx, the most successful racer of all time, explained in a recent interview with Stuart O鈥橤rady. 鈥淔irst a small breakfast with the cheese and the ham and then steaks. It was horrible, but you know, you had to eat steaks to be strong. It was absolutely crazy.鈥�

And during the evening? 鈥淪oup, maybe some fish,鈥� said Merckx, 鈥渢hen pasta with another steak.鈥澨�

Coppi鈥檚 approach was radically different. He generally avoided red meats and alcohol, experimented with vegetarian diets and was a fan of wheat germ. Coppi was also the peloton鈥檚 first proponent of a high carbohydrate race-day diet. While his rivals were gorging on veal for breakfast, smoking cigarettes to warm up their hearts and open up their lungs before the race, and chugging water bottles filled with the 鈥淏inda Zabaione鈥� (20 beaten egg yolks and some sugar), Coppi ate a breakfast of whole grains. He also ate small quantities of carbohydrates (tarts, small sandwiches, and fruit)听throughout the听race.听

Today, we understand that听Coppi听was replenishing听his body's glycogen energy stores, and this听allowed him to push hard throughout the race without听bonking.听At the time, this听approach was a revelation; the first scientific study on听exercise-induced hypoglycemia wasn't publish until听1924. Similarly, the benefits of consuming carbohydrates during endurance events weren鈥檛 studied听until 1939.听

Carbs Get Scientific (1980s to 2000)

In the '80s, the pendulum began to swing the other direction鈥攆rom high-meat to high-carb听diets. 鈥淭he daily diet during races was pretty basic back in the 1980s,鈥� says Chris Carmichael, who rode the 1986 Tour de France for Team 7-1. 鈥淟ots of pasta, rice, potatoes. There was some meat, but not that much.鈥�

But on the bike, things were beginning to change. Riders began shifting away from real food and toward packaged bars and drinks. 鈥淓veryone was taking a reductionist approach to nutrition鈥攃arbohydrates, protein, fat, antioxidants鈥攖rying to isolate and package these things into very convenient, rapidly-absorbed, technical food products,鈥� explains sports physiologist Allen Lim.

Carbohydrates began to go high-tech at the dawn of the 鈥�90s, recalls听Shelley Verses,听Team 7-Eleven鈥檚 soigneur,听or team assistant.听鈥淚 was working for [Team] TVM and one of our sponsors was this Belgian company that made a carbohydrate drink called Extran,鈥� says Verses. 鈥淒rinking a water bottle of the stuff was like eating six slices of bread. The idea was that you could get almost all your calories from your water bottle.鈥�

Did it actually work? Yes and no. In addition to exacerbating the gastrointestinal distress that plagues riders during the Tour, the concentrated liquid carbs left little margin for error during the race.听

鈥淭his one time, one of our guys made an attack,鈥� recalls Verses. 鈥淗e got free of the peloton and everything was great鈥� and then we suddenly got this call on the radio that he鈥檚 completely bonking. Turns out he鈥檇 skipped getting another bottle of Extran when he made that attack. By the time we drive up to him in the team car, he鈥檚 barely turning the pedals. He鈥檚 so weak that he can鈥檛 even reach out and take a water bottle from me, so I have to lean out the window of this speeding car, pry open his mouth with my fingers, squirt the Extran into his mouth and then rub his throat to actually make him swallow it. Instantly鈥擝OOM鈥攊t鈥檚 like the lights just went back on. He jumps out of the saddle and tears on up the road to the peloton. The calories were there,鈥� says Verses with a laugh, 鈥渂ut it wasn鈥檛 perfect.鈥�

Rice Cookers and Michelin Chefs (2000s to Today)

The year is 2006 and Lim is in a bind. He鈥檚 coaching the TIAA-CREF cycling development team, on the eve of a big race in Ireland, and their shipment of fancy packaged sports bars and gels were still听somewhere across the Atlantic.听

鈥淥ne of the riders on the team was like, 鈥楬ey, Al, why don鈥檛 we just eat boiled potatoes?鈥� He was joking around,鈥� says Lim, 鈥渂ut this light bulb went off in my head. I mean, why the hell not?鈥�

One race and several dozen pounds of boiled potatoes later (coated in olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheese, because Lim is nothing if not a foodie), the riders were unanimous鈥攂ring on the potatoes. The team had an extraordinary week鈥攑utting one rider, Danny Pate, atop the winner鈥檚 podium. What鈥檚 more, the entire team鈥檚 energy levels were higher, their stomachs felt better and they flat out rode faster.听

鈥淭hat was the moment for me,鈥� says Lim, 鈥渨hen I realized, holy crap, maybe we need to keep this really simple. Maybe we can make things taste great, the riders will eat more, feel better and suffer less gastrointestinal distress.鈥�

Lim soon began experimenting with other whole foods.听

Toting an army of rice cookers from race to race, Lim started packing the musettes with sushi-rice cakes鈥攕ome filled with fruit, others with amino acids, protein, and fat-rich savories like bacon and eggs. Lim鈥檚 approach was at once both old fashioned and entirely science based鈥攈ome cooked food loaded with a meticulous balance of protein, fat, and carbs.听

Since then, Lim and his rice cookers have been to the the London Olympics, the Tour of California, and everywhere听in between. For his part, Lim has become the rare rock-star scientist slash celebrity chef. He鈥檚 worked with Tour de France winners, co-authored cookbooks,听and runs听Skratch听Labs, a sports-nutrition company.听It wasn鈥檛 an easy transition. The older soigneurs he worked with initially resisted the new approach, going so far as to steal and hide his rice cookers after each stage during the Tour de France. At the persistence of younger riders, though,听Lim eventually听won out.听

鈥淲e鈥檝e gone away from the red meat, except for maybe the night before a rest stage,鈥� says Voigt. 鈥淚nstead it鈥檚 now fish, turkey,听or chicken鈥攍ean meats that are easier to digest. In general, there鈥檚 a lot more science involved.鈥�

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Joe Schubauer-Berigan heard the car before he saw it. A moment before the driver rear-ended him and sent his body and bike flying through a Cincinnati intersection, Schubauer-Berigan heard an unsettling scraping, screeching noise as the bumper tore through his rear wheel. His bike鈥攁 pricey听carbon-fiber Trek Madone 6.9鈥攚as crushed beneath the car鈥檚 front wheels as Schubauer-Berigan hit the hood and rolled to the pavement. He walked away from the crash with a concussion and road rash鈥攁nd helmet-cam footage documenting the whole thing.听

A growing number of riders are strapping on action cams before heading out on the road. While some are hoping to capture glorious videos of themselves dropping the hammer during the next supposedly听casual group ride, their cameras are also recording run-ins with motorists. Schubauer-Berigan鈥檚 video is just one example. Hit and run in Berkeley? 听Road rage near Boulder? 听Every cyclist鈥檚 worst nightmare? Cataloged in by the Fly6, a combination rear bike light and video camera that nabs footage of everything happening on the road behind you.

Cycliq, maker of the Fly6, recently rolled out the Fly12,听a handlebar-mounted headlight/video camera that also shows if cars are less than three feet from you when they drive past, which would violate the three-foot passing laws currently on the books in 24 states.听

Bike-versus-car听incidents often devolve into he-said-she-said disputes, with neither party able to provide tangible evidence to prove听definitively听who was at fault. That could change with the proliferation in the past few years of inexpensive, portable POV action cameras, which are yielding evidence. Lots of it.听

GoPro, Contour, Olfi, JVC, Drift, Garmin, Polaroid, Shimano, Sony鈥攖here鈥檚 no shortage of portable, affordable action cameras that will document what happened on your last ride听in brilliant, high-definition video.

鈥淥nce camera prices dropped and the technology advanced, they began to make more sense for riders,鈥� says Megan Hottman, an avid rider and racer who has competed professionally and whose Golden, Colorado鈥揵ased law firm deals exclusively with cycling cases. 鈥淭hese days, you can come home from your ride and quickly download or erase the day鈥檚 footage in a couple minutes. It鈥檚 become affordable and painless, and that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e seeing more video footage introduced in cases.鈥�

But whether this footage holds up in court remains to be seen. 听

In the days following his 2014 crash, Schubauer-Berigan filed a civil claim against the driver who听hit him. The driver proclaimed his innocence.听He told his insurance adjuster that Schubauer-Berigan had come out of nowhere and jumped in front of his vehicle. As is often the case, it came down to the cyclist鈥檚 word versus the motorist鈥檚 word. At least, says Steve Magas, Schubauer-Berigan鈥檚 lawyer, that was the case until he handed over the footage from his client鈥檚 Contour helmet camera.听

鈥淥h, that footage had an impact, alright,鈥� says Magas. 鈥淭hey were trying to blame Joe. But the videotape clearly shows Joe being hit from behind by a guy that just wasn鈥檛 paying attention. When we showed the insurance adjuster the video, it was all over. Slam dunk.鈥澨�

Once presented with the video, the driver鈥檚 insurance company quickly agreed to a confidential settlement with Schubauer-Berigan.听

Footage like Schubauer-Berigan鈥檚 typically gets used in one of two basic types of cases, says Bob Mionske, a two-time Olympian and former professional racer who, for the past 17 years, has worked as an attorney and author specializing in bike-related law. First, it could appear as evidence in a civil case between two citizens鈥攁 cyclist brings a legal claim against a driver to cover damages, and there鈥檚 a disagreement about who caused the crash. 鈥淚n those cases,鈥� he says, 鈥渧ideo footage can be very effective in showing who鈥檚 responsible.鈥澨�

But criminal cases, where the standard of proof is higher, are a different story. 鈥淭he legal standard for a civil case is 鈥榤ore likely than not,鈥欌�� says Mionske. 鈥淚n other words, the evidence has to show that it鈥檚 more likely than not that the driver violated their duty of care as a motorist.鈥�

In a criminal case, the state鈥檚 district attorney might bring charges against the driver for harassing or endangering the cyclist in an attempt to get a dangerous driver off the road. 鈥淭he video footage here has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the motorist is guilty,鈥� says Mionske. 鈥淚f someone on the jury has any doubt about what happened, the motorist can get off free.鈥�

Consider the case of Bryan Larsen. In May 2014, the semipro cyclist was riding down Southern California鈥檚 Pacific Coast Highway when a driver in a pickup repeatedly drove into the bike lane and proceeded to roll-coal Larsen, accelerating alongside the cyclist and enveloping him in .听

When the driver veered toward听Larsen for the fourth time, the cyclist pulled out his smartphone and .听

Larsen brought the case to the Orange Country Sheriff鈥檚 Department. After reviewing the video, the sheriff鈥檚 department declined to file criminal charges against the driver. They did, however, consider bringing battery charges against the passenger who threw the bottle and against Larsen for using 鈥渨ords in public likely to illicit a violent reaction.鈥�

You might think footage is footage, but there鈥檚 more than one way to watch any given video. 鈥淟et鈥檚 say a motorist buzzes you and violates their legal duty to pass with reasonable care,鈥� says Mionske. 鈥淵ou catch the incident on video, and then the altercation continues. Maybe you yell or thump the car because you鈥檝e just nearly been killed. Those emotions captured on video have the effect鈥攆or some people viewing the footage, at least鈥攐f creating an equivalency between the motorist鈥檚 act of aggression and your response. It turns the aggressive motorist and you, the cyclist, into equivalent combatants in the eyes of some jurists.鈥�

In other words, the footage can cut both ways.听

There are also limits to what a single camera can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. 鈥淎 GoPro-style camera can capture the basic event, but is the footage clear enough to clearly show the driver?鈥� says Hottman. 鈥淚n some of these criminal cases, the driver will claim that someone else was driving their car鈥攖hat they weren鈥檛 even there.鈥�

Given the many YouTube clips and media reports of road-raging motorists, you might assume that riding America鈥檚 roads has become more dangerous in recent years. The truth is more complicated. While America鈥檚 roadway infrastructure needs further improvement, the risk of being killed while riding a bike has decreased.听

On average, about 700 hundred cyclists are killed on America鈥檚 roadways each year. While every death is one death too many, these cases have actually declined slightly since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began tracking them in 1975. What鈥檚 more, this reduction occurred during a period when the number of bicycle trips actually doubled.听

This doesn鈥檛 mean cycling America鈥檚 roadways is 鈥渟afe鈥� per se. The same statistics show that, on a per-trip听basis, cyclists in the United States die on roads at twice the rate of motorists. Moreover, cyclist mortality has risen slightly in recent years,听a trend some suggest is tied to increasing numbers of motorists driving while texting. In short, there鈥檚 still work to be done, but there鈥檚 also reason to be optimistic.

鈥淵ou continue to find a bias favoring drivers in the legal system,鈥� says Mionske 鈥渂ut change is coming fast. I never saw an adult on a road bike until I was well into college. Today, there isn鈥檛 anyone in the United States who can say that. And because of that, there鈥檚 more awareness of cyclist and their rights. That鈥檚 a good thing.鈥澨�

Could the proliferation of POV-style cameras further increase that awareness?

鈥淚 think so,鈥� says Bill Shirer, an attorney in Dallas who also specializes in bicycle collision听cases. 鈥淚f people driving cars start to realize that听they might be on camera, it鈥檚 going to change how some of them share the roads with cyclists. It brings accountability to the table.鈥�

For his part, Joe Schubauer-Berigan, won鈥檛 ride again without his camera.听

鈥淚 do feel pretty nerdy wearing my camera every day,鈥� he admits, 鈥渂ut it works. It鈥檚 vital to proving what actually happened out there. Let鈥檚 put it this way:听I wouldn鈥檛 ride without one.鈥�

The post Caught on Camera appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

鈥淚鈥檝e never actually met anyone from the UCI, but鈥�,鈥� Robert Egger,听creative director of , pauses to consider the appropriate turn of phrase.听鈥淭hen again, I鈥檝e never met a Nazi. I just know I don鈥檛 like them.鈥�

Egger, it should be noted, doesn鈥檛 actually hate the (UCI), competitive cycling鈥檚 international governing body. He just detests its rules:听a mountain of guidelines that听control not only how bikes are raced听but also the specs of the bikes themselves. How much a bike weighs, the shape of its frame, the size of its wheels鈥擴CI technical regulations dictate all these things and more, stunting bicycle design over the years.

The bike you own, some argue, would be a whole lot better if it weren鈥檛 for the UCI鈥檚 interference. But, as with all subjects worth considering, there are several sides to this story.

The Mad Man鈥檚 Machine听

A bike is taking up floor space at Specialized鈥檚 headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Or, at least, it looks like a bike. Sorta. The prototype racer is a two-wheeled Pandora鈥檚 box of everything the UCI forbids. Egger听fittingly听dubbed it the 鈥渇UCI.鈥澨�

The first thing you notice about the is its massive rear wheel. At 33.3 inches, the hoop dwarfs its companion up front, which violates the UCI听mandate that all competition-eligible bikes sport equal-sized wheels. The rear wheel, however, acts as a massive flywheel, maximizing the bike鈥檚 efficiency when brought up to speed. Of course, winding that monster flywheel up to speed would be hellishly difficult鈥攖hat is, it would be if it weren鈥檛 for the electric motor tucked discretely inside the fUCI鈥檚 frame, which gives the rider another UCI-banned boost of power.听

We鈥檙e just scraping the surface here, but you get the idea. The fUCI is a mechanical middle finger thrust in the general direction of cycling鈥檚 rule听book. But it also makes you听ask: Why? Why did Egger spend six months creating the thing? What鈥檚 the point of it all?

鈥淚鈥檓 a designer. My job is to push the limits and design stuff that blows people away. I can tell you, all the regulations the UCI forces us to live by, it stymies us. It鈥檚 hampering innovation in the bike industry.鈥�

The Other Side of the Coin

Ben Coates, road product manager at听Trek Bicycles, takes a slightly different view of things:听鈥淭he UCI has changed significantly in the last year. I don鈥檛 think the UCI has fully decided that they are going to embrace technology, but they are definitely cleaning up some of the rules that were, frankly, stupid. And there is much better communication between the industry and the UCI. For instance, we鈥檒l take a prototype, with all the technology that we want to put into the final bike, and we go talk to them. There鈥檚 nothing like a face-to-face meeting.鈥澨�

Wait.听Is Coates saying he鈥檚 actually met the people at the UCI who come up with these regulations? 鈥淪ure,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e just call and say, 鈥楬ey, can we come see you?鈥� And they say yes.鈥澨�

鈥淚t鈥檚 always been very cordial,鈥� says Coates. 鈥淚 mean, you can鈥檛 always get the exact date you want, but they never say, 鈥楴o, we won鈥檛 meet with you.鈥欌�澨�

I鈥檓 flabbergasted. Coates is the first person I鈥檝e met who can say they have a one-on-one relationship with the UCI rule听makers.听

The UCI has earned a reputation for being听opaque. 鈥淚naccessible鈥� and 鈥渞emote鈥� are other adjectives that get tossed around when describing the organization. Does Trek simply enjoy easy access to the UCI because Trek happens to be America鈥檚 largest bike company?听

Apparently not.听

The Times听They Are A-Changing听

鈥淭he UCI has definitely become much less retro-rigid recently,鈥� says James LaLonde, global marketing manager for road bikes at听. 鈥淎fter years of seeming like they would have been happy if technology had stopped evolving after the Merckx years, they now seem much more open to innovation and wanting to move the industry forward.鈥�

Andew Juskaitis, global product marketing manager at听, sees a similar trend. 鈥淚t used to be nearly impossible to even get in contact with someone at the UCI,鈥� says Juskaitis. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even have a discussion with them. Now there鈥檚 a time and place for those discussions. It鈥檚 gotten much better during the past few years.鈥澨�

Both Juskaitis and Lalonde agree, however, that the UCI鈥檚 technical regulations, relaxing though they may be, slow the evolution of the modern road bike.听

鈥淢ost of the UCI rules do work as a means of creating and maintaining safe and interesting races,鈥� says Lalonde. 鈥淭hat said, there鈥檚 no question that the regs, as they stand now, do stifle innovation and progress. Rather than devoting engineering energy to creating the fastest bike period, we are forced to spend it creating the fastest bike that fits within the rules, some of which can seem a bit arbitrary. Things like the weight limit, or the 3:1 aero rule could easily and safely be changed.鈥�

Why All the Rules in the First Place?听

What鈥檚 the UCI trying to achieve by, among other things, restricting how aero a bike can be or how much it can weigh?

We went straight to the source鈥擬ark Barfield, technical manager for听the UCI鈥攖o find out. Since March 2015, Barfield has managed the UCI equipment regulations, checks, and approvals processes.听

鈥淪afety is the ultimate concern,鈥� says Barfield. 鈥淥n the other hand, we want our sport to be attractive to our fan base and broadcast as a show and a performance, and to innovative businesses that invest in cycling, such as manufacturers. At the end of the day, we have to strike a balance between the safety of the athletes and the popularity of the sport.鈥�

鈥淭here may be some rules in place that restrict innovation,鈥� concedes Barfield. 鈥淗owever, they are generally in place for a good reason and with some safety or historic concern behind them. Our approach now is to work with our stakeholders and develop a close relationship that enables us to identify some of the key rules that may be seen to place a design restriction.鈥�

Of course, the UCI also wants to level the competitive playing field. 鈥淭he rules are designed to make sure that racing is a human competition and not a technological competition,鈥� says Coates.听

Your Last Formula 1 Race Car听

It鈥檚 hard to argue with the idea that victory should go to the best racer, rather than to the bike the racer pilots. At some level, however, every bike company that sponsors a team of pros does so in the hopes that you, the consumer, walk听away thinking that their victories are the result of the bikes. That鈥檚 what sponsorship is ultimately all about鈥攕elling the product.听

鈥淭he 鈥榓ll听bikes听are听equal, level playing field鈥� stance? Let鈥檚 be clear about this: That is the UCI鈥檚 standpoint,鈥� says Juskaitis. 鈥淲e have a very different view of things. Our goal is to build the best goddamn bikes in the world that give the best athletes an advantage so they cross the finish line first. We have to play by the UCI鈥檚 rules, and we do, but, yeah, there is a tension and a give-and-take here between the UCI and bike companies.鈥�

But here鈥檚 another question: Do you actually want to ride the same bike as the pros?听

When you go shopping for your next car, will you look for a stripped-out Formula 1 machine? Do you care whether your next vehicle meets NASCAR regulations? Most of us prefer something very different鈥攕omething with air conditioning, radios, a backseat, and suspension that doesn鈥檛 rattle the fillings from our teeth. Why should bikes be any different?听

The UCI might not be ready to accept the lightest, quickest-stopping, most comfortable bikes ever to hit the road, but isn鈥檛 that exactly what a lot of serious riders are looking for these days? Why don鈥檛 companies offer both UCI-sanctioned bikes and hopped-up, no-limits bikes for the rest of us?

鈥淭hat鈥檚 already happening,鈥� says Trek鈥檚 Coates. 鈥淲hat was once the road-riding fringe has grown and grown. Niche is the new normal now. Endurance riding turned into Minneapolis-style gravel riding, which turned into adventure-style riding, which is turning into bike camping. Diversification is the trend. Now, every company has to make choices about how deep into that trend they want to go.鈥�

Of course, cost is a consideration, and it鈥檚 often easier to justify the hero technology in the very highest-caliber bikes.听

鈥淚t鈥檇 be nice,鈥� says Juskaitis, 鈥渋f we made our TCR road-racing bike for professionals and also offered a lighter, stiffer, and more aerodynamic TCR Unlimited version, available to anybody who wants a bike without limitations. But for us to do that, we鈥檇 have to open up special molds that cost between $75,000 and $100,000 per frame size.听We just wouldn鈥檛 sell enough of them to warrant those costs.鈥�

More Than Just Another Bike

Back in Morgan Hill, Egger ponders the fUCI,听his protest on wheels. The prototype stands as an embodiment of what a bicycle might become if there were no restrictions placed on its builders.听

鈥淲hen people see this bike, their eyes go wide,鈥� says Egger.听鈥淓ven though this thing is really just a model鈥攖hey can see the possibilities.鈥�

鈥淲hy did we make fUCI? 听It鈥檚 a message for the UCI, sure,鈥� says Egger. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also a challenge to us鈥擲pecialized鈥攁nd the rest of the bike industry to shake things up. We鈥檙e located next to Silicon Valley, where all this tremendous change is happening, and here we are, still producing models that look like safety bikes from the turn of the last century. There is so much technology out there in terms of motors, spoked wheels, aerodynamics,听and the bike industry considers disc brakes on road bikes to be a big deal? We鈥檙e just scraping the surface of what鈥檚 possible.鈥�

鈥淵our bike,鈥� says Egger 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 even have to look like a bike at all. It can be better.鈥�

The post The Specialized fUCI Is Proof Your Bike Should Be Better appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

鈥淚 feel really terrible. I鈥檓 aware I have a big problem鈥︹�� Belgian racer听Femke Van den Driessche shortly after officials found a motor hidden inside her spare race bike during the cyclocross world championships in听Zolder, Belgium.

That might go down as the biggest听understatement of the year. On Wednesday, Van den Driessche鈥檚 bike sponsor, Wilier Triestina, announced that it听plans to sue the 19-year-old rider, who went from being the U23听Belgian and European cyclocross champion to a cycling-world pariah over the听weekend.听鈥淥ur Company will take legal action against the athlete and against any responsible for this very serious matter, in order to safeguard the good name and image of the company鈥︹�� reads the Italian bike manufacturer鈥檚 press release.

And that鈥檚 just the start听of her problems.

Van den Driessche鈥檚 case is still in its early stages. The UCI has launched an investigation, but has yet to reveal key details, such as the make of the motor or the list of people who might be charged beyond Van den Driessche. It鈥檚 conceivable that her team and the Belgian federation may come under scrutiny as well.

We know this much:听if found guilty, Van den Driessche faces a minimum six-month suspension and a potential fine of as much as $195,000 (or 200,000 Swiss francs). If Van den Driessche鈥檚 team is implicated in the scandal, it could ultimately pay up to $978,000 (1 million francs) in penalties.

The UCI isn鈥檛 messing about on this one.听鈥淲e will be testing more bikes, more often, more frequently,鈥� 听during a press conference this weekend. 鈥淥ur message to those choosing to cheat is that we will catch up with you sooner or later.鈥�

Not surprisingly, many have been quick to distance themselves from the embattled rider.听There have even been calls for permanently banning Van den Driessche from competition.

Belgian national team coach Rudy De Bie put it bluntly in an interview with Belgian television network, Sporza.听鈥淲e thought that we had in Femke a great talent in the making,鈥� said De Bie 鈥渂ut it seems that she fooled everyone鈥�. This is a disgrace. I never imagined something like this would happen to our team. Why would a rider do this? Especially at such a young age. And who is responsible for her?鈥�

Good question. Who听is听responsible here?

Van den Driessche has maintained her innocence from the moment the UCI discovered that her spare race bike contained a motor and wires hidden in its seat听tube. She says听she sold her team bike from the previous season to a friend. This friend, she claims, showed up before the race and put in a few laps with her brother before leaning that bike against a team truck. The bike, according to Van den Driessche, was then mistakenly taken by a team mechanic, cleaned,听and put aside as a spare for her.听While it鈥檚 possible that it all happened as Van den Driessche claims, it takes a very generous soul to believe it鈥檚 true.

finds it difficult to be that generous. The longtime professional road, mountain bike,听and cyclocross racer sums up what a lot of people are thinking.听鈥淚 really have a hard time believing that mechanics would mistake her bike from last year with one of her current race bikes,鈥� says Parkin. 鈥淭he main job of a race mechanic is to be meticulous in the preparation of race bikes. They look at every square inch of every single tire, for example, to make sure there are no little cuts or imperfections. Certainly the weight of a motor and battery pack would鈥檝e been enough for even a half-ass mechanic to question whether something was wrong with an 鈥榠nnocent鈥� bike.听Something听on this extra bike would鈥檝e raised a red flag.鈥�

In recent days, Nico Van Muylder, the friend that Van den Driessche claims brought the illegal bike to the race, has corroborated her account.听鈥淚t鈥檚 my bike,鈥� Van Muylder . 鈥淎ll I can say is it鈥檚 my bike.鈥�

Is Van Muylder telling the truth? It may not matter. The UCI鈥檚 rules on 鈥渢echnical fraud鈥澨齪ut the onus of responsibility on the rider and team.听If a bike is in the pits during the race, it must meet UCI regulations. There鈥檚 no wiggle room here. One way or another,听Van den Driessche is going to pay for this one.

This past weekend鈥檚 bust at the cyclocross world championships made headlines around the world. Hidden motors, however, do not have the potential to become the next major 鈥渄oping鈥� scandal. The clandestine drug cocktails that have long undergirded听professional cycling are often either difficult to detect (EPO, for instance) or easy to mask during testing. That is what has made keeping the peloton clean such a Herculean task.

The UCI, however, won鈥檛 need biological passports, extensive tests, or cunning inspectors to weed out the cheats in cases such as this one. Want to find the motors in bikes? There鈥檚 literally an app for that鈥攖he UCI developed it this year and any race official with an iPad can use it to root out motors hidden inside bike frames.

After this weekend鈥檚 furor, it鈥檇 take a very, very desperate racer to attempt a motorized trip to the winner鈥檚 podium.

The post What Happens Next to the Woman Accused of Motorized Doping appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Femke Van den Driessche, a budding cyclocross star and race favorite, made news this weekend when race officials at the world championships in Zolder, Belgium, discovered a concealed inside the frame of her back-up race bike. For her part, the 19-year-old Belgian claims that the bike wasn鈥檛 hers (that it belonged to a 鈥渇riend鈥�). For its part, competitive cycling鈥檚 governing body (the UCI), isn鈥檛 buying it for a second.

Many of the facts are still foggy: What type of motor was hidden inside that team bike?听 How many people were involved in the ruse? How big of a problem is this really?听

One thing, however, is clear鈥攁fter years of experts dismissing the specter of it entirely, 鈥渕echanical doping鈥� has infiltrated professional cycling.

The Rumor that Wouldn鈥檛 Die听

In 2010, cycling star Fabian Cancellara found himself besieged by rumors that his ability to motor away from rivals during the spring classics that year was the result of his having a motor tucked somewhere in his bike. Italian journalist Michele Bufalino posted online that showed Cancellara dropping other pros during that year鈥檚 Paris Roubaix after seeming to fiddle with something on his handlebars. While race commissaires inspected Cancellara鈥檚 bike and gave it a clean bill of health, the rumors never died, as evidenced by the four听million views Bufalino鈥檚 video racked up on Youtube.听

Motorgate roared back to life in 2014 when another surfaced, this time showing Ryder Hesjedal鈥檚 bike spinning around on the asphalt after a crash at the Vuelta a Espana. Hesjedal鈥檚 bike was later inspected and also deemed clean, though that assertion hasn鈥檛 stopped the video from developing its own cult following.

Greg LeMond: Mechanical Doping Is听a Problem听

Cycling experts have always recognized that motors could be hidden in a bicycle frame, but have generally dismissed it as nothing more than a crutch for aging weekend warriors revisiting their glory years at the local Gran Fondo. There has been one notable exception: three-time Tour de France winner, Greg LeMond.听

LeMond, who also insisted that the peloton was rife with doping at a time when no one wanted to hear that particular story, has been similarly vocal about 鈥渕echanical doping.鈥� 鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 been used sometimes in the Grand Tours,鈥� LeMond told the Associated Press in France in 2014. Never one to mince words, LeMond went on to call out the UCI鈥檚 efforts to root about for motors as 鈥渇luff鈥� and 鈥渁ll words.”

So How Deep Does the Cheating Go?听

What are the odds that Femke Van den Driessche really knew nothing about the motor inside her spare bike? I put the question to Joe Parkin, the only man to have represented the United States in the pro road, cyclocross, and mountain bike world championships.听

鈥淲ell, she is really young,鈥� says Parkin 鈥渟o she might not be as particular about her bike setup as someone who has been on the ProTour for 10 years, but I have a hard time believing that she wouldn鈥檛 have jumped on each of her bikes the day of the world champs. I rode Elite Worlds one time, was not a favorite, and still made sure I at least took a cursory parking-lot spin on my spare bike.鈥�

Author Mike Ferrentino, who served as one of America鈥檚 team mechanics during the `99 cyclocross world championships, is similarly skeptical. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not entirely impossible, but it still smells like bullshit. It has been a long time since my days in the pits, but back then it was expected that you knew your stuff. If you were a team mechanic, you probably built those bikes, or at the very least knew them inside and out鈥�.The idea that the bike just somehow ended up migrating from “entourage” into the team, and happened to look and fit exactly like her regular bike, and nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary, it just seems to pile several layers of implausibility onto the story.鈥�

Here鈥檚 the Thing: Anyone Can Buy These Motors听

The UCI hasn鈥檛 revealed details about the motor found in Van den Driessche鈥檚 bike, but it鈥檚 likely similar to the Vivax-Assist鈥攁 four-pound that fits within most round seat tubes. The motor features a beveled gear that connects directly to a bike鈥檚 bottom bracket spindle. You can stow the battery inside your water bottle and discretely tuck the 鈥渙n鈥� button within your handlebar tape. 听

The Vivax pumps an additional 100 watts of power into your pedaling efforts. In other words, the motor won鈥檛 do all the work for you, but it will enable slower riders to handily drop better racers at clutch moments in a race. Vivax insists its product is not intended for outright cheating鈥攊t just so happens that you can equip your bike with that motor鈥攚ith no one else the wiser.

So What鈥檚 the UCI Doing?听

The UCI caught plenty of flak for its slipshod handling of doping scandals both before and during the Lance Armstrong years. You can鈥檛, however, argue that the UCI is asleep at the wheel this time around. Though he鈥檚 received no shortage of heckling for his efforts, UCI President Brian Cookson has made a point the past few years of having his racing officials conduct random checks for 鈥渢echnical cheating鈥� during major professional competitions.听

In fact, the UCI鈥檚 technical manager Mark Barfield recently announced in an interview with Cyclingtips.com that the UCI would be using magnetic resistance-enabled devices to scan bikes at the (then) upcoming cyclocross听world championships. And sure enough, race commissaires were combing the pits, doing precisely that.听

The UCI bungled the EPO听era because it waited too long to halt the spread of performance-enhancing drugs. If cycling鈥檚 watchdogs stay on course this time around, they might just stop this new style of cheating before it truly gets rolling.听

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