Will 60 Minutes Expose it as Real – Mechanical Doping

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There is an article over at Cyclingnews that says that CBS’s 60 Minutes is going to air a segment on mechanical doping on January 29.  That is exactly a month.  Do you think that if 60 Minutes makes a valid argument, or even better yet, exposes the use of mechanical doping for the past decade, it would change the way us Americans think about it?

I’ve usually always agreed with what 60 Minutes covers.  It all seem pertinent.  It is the Sunday evening program, after the football games, that seems to try to expose unfairness throughout society.  They call themselves a “newsmagazine”, which is appropriate, I guess.   They started in 1968, so nearly 50 years ago.  That is crazy.

60 Minutes has already done a ton of stuff on Lance and his issue.  They did an exclusive segment with Tyler Hamilton that was revealing, sort of.  This is going to different.

If 60 minutes is going to air a segment on mechanical doping in the sport of cycling, then there have to be some riders that are shitting themselves right about now.  I assume they will name a rider, or multiple riders, that have had the advantage of this.  Since they “caught” Femke Van den Driessche, the only person, as far as I know, of potential trying to use mechanical doping in cyclocross, obviously it does exist.

Greg (Lemond) has been talking about it for sometime now.  He says it exists and has been used in the peloton.  I have no reason to doubt him.

I think a 60 Minutes show on it will go way more in depth that anything the cycling media has covered on the subject.  They have rarely made mistakes in their reporting and thus, hardly ever have to retract something that isn’t true.  I assume they did their research during the covering of this subject.

So, we have a month to wait.  I did a post about the revealing of mechanical doping a couple weeks ago and in that article, the “inventor” of mechanical doping, Istvan Varjas, said that a major television show was going to cover it.  I’d alway thought it would be a European television show. Never did I think it might be 60 Minutes.  This should be interesting.

 

44 thoughts on “Will 60 Minutes Expose it as Real – Mechanical Doping

  1. Game Changer

    If this is true then it could be the death nail of the sport. I for one could never again watch a solo attack 20k out without suspicion….think Cancellara in his prime. For me the traditional doping was already baked in and I assumed that the majority of these guys were and are doing it to some extent. While I don’t like it I accept it as part of their job and ability to put food on the table. In my opinion mechanical cheating is completely different and a threshold I had hoped would never be crossed because there is no going back. In the case of traditional doping the athlete’s body is still producing the power and solely responsible for propelling the bike. With e bikes anyone can get off the couch and ride with cat 1’s and pros….it just doesn’t seem right. I really hope this story isn’t true but I have a dreaded feeling that it is.

     
  2. The Cyclist

    Mechanical doping is basically everywhere today. A fat fuck in a suit smoking a fag passed me goin up the local bridge today… enough said.

     
  3. Robyn Michelle Angeles

    Mmmmmm, more reason for that guy, in that 1977 Eldorado, to try to “side-swipe me,” while I waddle my fat , undertrained, spring-ass , up Mt. Lemmon (trying to find my 17seasons form.) I’m pretty sure his reasoning (deep in his heart, if he had one) is that we are all “fake dopers” on bicycles anyway …Thanks Lance! Which reminds me, I better go find a good hospital insurer B4 I travel!

     
  4. Robyn Michelle Angeles

    Btw, if you think it is any mistake they (CBS on a Sunday) are trying to “inform” that “demographic” that cyclist are’t real athletes. Then you’ve never encountered that fat-ass, cheese-eaton, couch-sittin, Sunday beer drinking, Fooball likein, Cowboy … If you think that show, isn’t a shot at the sport of cycling,, by the American media, you are sorely mistaken … You “peach to the converted …” Meh Walt Wawra has to have a favourite sport too!

     
  5. Bryan barber

    “Cycling as a professional sport” has been considered by the public as the biggest joke in sports for decades. And as long as it’s under the thumb of the UCI and IOC it will continue to be a joke.
    I’m guessing LeBron James has a higher salary than the top 300 professional cyclist in the world, combined.
    Those who are quick to spout off about Lance, dopers, or cheaters have absolutely no clue what is going on.
    I’m excited for the show and the possibility that it will blow the shit out of the current system.

     
  6. Bryan barber

    The guy in the 77 Eldorado doesn’t watch 60 minutes, doesn’t give two shits about cyclist, and doesn’t even see you. Isn’t Mount Lemmon a huge tourist attraction? I live at the bottom of Mount Baldy Road(CA) and can’t think of too many things more dangerous than riding up and down it except the rare occasion when it is deserted.

     
  7. Robyn Michelle Angeles

    OMG .. the only “thumb” that cycling (as a professional sport) is “under …” Is the Amerikan, News media, sport broadcasting complex … There is no “real” money broadcasting professional cycling in America. Until an American Media Franchise owns France 2 and France 3 owns the ‘exclusive” international broadcast rights, it is essentially “Voluptates non grata.” Lance Armstrong’s rein at the “Tour de France,” was essentially a test of the American viability of cycling as a marketable sports franchise. Maybe Rupert Murdoch can help? Oh know, he has too much SKY money tied-up in Britain, and is almost retired!

     
  8. GK

    He is cheating at his commute? Someone commuting to work on a ebike is not cheating – entering a race with mechanized assistance IS cheating – there is a vast and clear distinction.

     
  9. Robyn Michelle Angeles

    Also, and seriously .. if you are a poor family (race not disclosed) in Philadelphia, or Ferguson, MO, and you have a teenage son, who is so good, he could possible get a college basket ball contract, and even go on to the NBA, and then the college recruiter presents you with a small bottle gHB, to make sure your son avoids “premature epiphyseal closure,” till he’s at least 6’8″ ….. What yah gonna do? People have to eat.

     
  10. Ben Grubering

    Gruber Assist. This is the time to invest in Gruber futures, Gruber options and all things Gruber.

     
  11. The Cyclist

    He was using a motor and thus had no business in my bike lane. Period. He should been riding on the road with the rest of motorized vehicles. Period. If you can’t get up a hill by your own legs you’re cheating. Being in a race or not is not the point. Period.

     
  12. Bill Hall

    Hopefully this is a good report by 60min. Cheaters are running the sport of cycling into the ground. Find them banish them for good. Cycling needs a one and done policy.

     
  13. Jeff D

    Game Changer-You pretty much said what I’ve been thinking ever since I first heard of “Mechanical Doping” it’s a different kind of cheating ( sounds strange doesn’t it, cheating is cheating) but like you said in traditional doping, riders are still making the power and still have to train. As far as the way the typical Americans views cycling, I don’t think it’ll really make a difference, as cycling will probably always take a back seat to sport involving a ball!

     
  14. chris

    Or have a college trainer come out to a new prospect’s home town after he just signed and declare to the local paper that he is definitely going to grow 8 inches next year.

     
  15. Brad

    The big 3 component manufacturers are in on it man. That’s why they got electric shifting man. Its a conspiracy!

     
  16. Robyn Michelle Angeles

    Ok, I went grocery shopping. I let my creative mind wonder, and I have had some time to think. Guess what? Eureka!!! Timing in American National Sports Broadcasting is everything!!! When is CBS airing this “tell-all” episode, about those nasty, horrible cyclocrosser cyclist who are using electric motorcycles (poseing as race bicycles) to race around in their local city parks? Mmmmmm … Check your calenders kids …. http://bieles2017.lu …. It’s actually “good news.” You know why? It means the American sports media is starting to notice, joe-jerk-off (on the couch at home) who knows nothing about cyclists, actually likes watching “does purdy girls” race their dirty race bikes in the mud …. It’s an attempt to “devalue the franchise.” Kind of like when you go to buy a house and notice all the “potential problems, short comings, and deficits” of your potential purchase so you can get a better buying price … It means those guys at CBS (and other national broadcasters) wanna broadcast world Championship cyclocross (and they wanna bargain the price down with the UCI.) Rogers Broadcasting through TSN in Canada (with the help of a company called NeuLion broadcast last year … Tighten your seatbelt people, somebody might be trying to “mainstream” world championship cyclocross as a commercially viable television franchise … Or maybe I am just crazy? 🙂 http://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/heath-ledger-e1433504175941.jpg

     
  17. RB

    You seriously can’t think of too many more things more dangerous than riding up a road that tens of thousands of people ride every year without incident? Is this my mom posting?

     
  18. KrakatoaEastofJava

    My mother worked as a psychiatric nurse. She worked for a place called County Mental Health in San Diego. A county hospital, this is where the local police agencies brought each and every suspect that they considered to be mentally ill (and it was a LOT of them). It was also the place where each and every attempted suicide patient was brought by Police or Fire.

    Back in 1980 or so, 60 Minutes did a piece on their hospital. Through some big digging exercise on their part, they discovered that, imagine this: suicidal patients brought to this hospital often ended up committing suicide soon after being released. Why was this “evil hospital” dumping the patients back out on the streets so they could just repeat their folly?

    Quite simple, really. Patients (even mentally ill ones) have rights. If you want to hold a patient against his or her will, you need to convince a judge that they are a danger to themselves or others. The hospital usually sought to confine these patients beyond the 72-hour involuntary period that they were initially subject to. But that requires a judicial order. And each day, the judge comes to the hospital. These formerly suicidal patients (by now HATING being locked-up in a psych ward) simply want the hell out. And they have attorneys who argue on their behalf (whatever the patient wishes, actually… because they represent the patient’s interest in being freed). The patients who really DID want to kill themselves usually lied about “feeling much better”, won their cases, and often headed for the nearest bridge upon release.

    My point is, be careful about investigative journalism like what you see on 60 Minutes. They always enter the situation with an angle in mind, and they don’t stop until they “get the angle” they seek.

    If 60 Minutes believes that these motors are commonplace in the pro peloton, they will go to extreme lengths to make everyone else believe it too, even if that means a little creative distortion. My mother remembers them making deft use of the editing bay to chop rather benign interviews into looking like damning admissions. She watched their episode and her faith in journalism was completely lost. They got it SO wrong.

     
  19. Dude Ron

    Haters keep on hatin, lovers keep on lovin, World keep on turnin cause it won”t be too long! Sang Stevie Wonder thus cheaters keep on cheatin cause it won”t be too long!!

     
  20. James

    Steve you have too high of an opinion of 60 minutes’ journalistic integrity. Look into their hachet job on Audi & how that bit of stellar reporting continues to confuse the issues around unitended acceleration.

    I agree with others that there is a good chance it will portray the entire cycling community in a poor light. I find it curious how they even come up with the numbers to touch the subject. How many of their typical viewership gives a rats ass about pro cycling?

    Its going to start with a revist of the entire EPO era & rehash of LA.

    Then see, there all a bunch of cheaters. Now with motors!

     
  21. Davey

    I really hope the show will be able to reveal some new information, name names and reveal proof of motors being used. It is not hard to imagine folks taking advantage of this technology and it is best to expose these cheats for what they are.

    Despite this likely possibility being brought to the attention of the UCI long ago, they appear to be doing nothing substantial to combat or deter the use of hidden motors. Personally I hope the show will expose their complacency, or maybe even their cooperation, with this technical fraud. We need a real effort to clean house – from top to bottom.

     
  22. old and slow

    There was a VW/ Audi hot rod shop in the late 1980s going by the name of “Intended Accelleration.”

     
  23. Bryan Barber

    @RB I’ve driven Baldy Rd. 3,000+ times. I’ve seen motorists, motorcyclists, and cyclists die on that road. It is not uncommon. It’s steep, winding(blind corners), has no shoulder or bike lane and speed limit is 55. It’s a recipe for disaster if your a cyclist.

     

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