NEW YORK (BRAIN) — CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday aired a report on allegations that top racers have been using secret motors in competition. The report quoted one expert, Jean Pierre Verdy, a former French Anti-Doping Agency testing director, saying sources in the pro peloton told him that a dozen riders used motors during the 2015 Tour de France.
The report also quoted three-time tour winner Greg LeMond, who said, "I know the motor is still in the sport.”
As part of the report, CBS bought an actual 1999 US Postal bike and had a hidden electric motor installed and asked ex-pro and admitted doper Tyler Hamilton to ride the bike.
“I could see how teams are doing it," Hamilton said.
Just one elite rider has been caught with a motorized bike, a U23 cyclocross racer in Belgium last year.
The UCI has begun using various methods for checking bikes at major races, but LeMond and other criticized the UCI for not weighing wheels individually before some races. The report noted that some Team Sky bikes appeared to be 800 grams heavier than usual at some Tour de France time trials last year. Team Sky has denied any doping and said the extra weight was due to aerodynamic features of the bikes.
