I know the title has nothing to do with reality, but that is what I think the race should be/have been today if we lived in a perfect world.  Plus, that really is the UCI rule that they enacted last year to address the use of motors on bikes in racing.  And that is exactly what happened at the World Cyclo-X Championships yesterday.

A Belgian U-23 woman, Femke van den Driessche , was “caught” with a motor on her bicycle. She is the current U23 Belgian and European cyclocross champion.    Here is the link to a Velonews article on the incident.

The UCI rule states  the penalty –

Any technological fraud shall be sanctioned as follows:

1. Rider: disqualification, suspension of a minimum of six months and a fine of between CHF 20’000 and CHF 200’000.

2. Team: disqualification, suspension of a minimum of six months and a fine of between CHF 100’000 and CHF 1’000’000.

Belgian national team coach Rudy De Bie said that “I feel really terrible,. This is a disgrace. I never imagined something like this would happen to our team.”  So he says that Femke was a team member, thus the disqualification of the whole team would be the sanction.

The rule states that the rider, plus the team will be suspended for a minimum of 6 months.  And I agree with Rudy De Bie that her team is the Belgian National Team this weekend.

I know this sounds far fetched, but the recourse for an infraction like this needs to be super severe.  There is no jacking around with trying to screw with this blatant cheating.  The woman was caught red handed with a motor concealed within her frame.

But, do you think that this will occur today.  I bet not.  No way.

The UCI has this moment, this very first time that this has been discovered, to draw a very serious line in the sand.  They aren’t going to do it.

I wrote a post about this early last year about mechanical doping.  Here is the link.    I say zero tolerance.   It has been happening, they have sold 1000’s of this motors, by now, and for sure this isn’t the first time it has been used in international competition.  It is just the first time it has been caught.

Her dad did an interview and this is a quote from that interview – “The bike was in the pit but it is [belonging to] someone from her entourage, who sometimes trains with her. But it was never the intention that it would be raced.”

So it sounds like she/they knew of the bike, but that she didn’t have “the intention” of racing it.   So they just put it in the pit for………?  Isn’t the pit for a bike exchanges?  At the World Cyclocross Championships?  The guy sounds desperate.

Anyway, this is a sad day for the sport of cycling.  Cyclocross is such a beautiful sport.  Nothing like someone cheating in such a black and white way, to tarnish it.

If you still want to watch the race this morning, here is maybe the best way –

Cyclocross Worlds LIVE 7:50am, 8am start  CST  (3pm in Zolder, Belgium)

Use Firefox browser with Hola extension selecting “Switzerland” as country, then go to YouTube and select “ucichannel” and the event “LIVE Elite Men’s Race | 2016 Cyclo-cross World”.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPY41hSd2pQ>

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, the title isn’t a misspelling, which I am known for.  It is actually a name for a nine-day mythical “tour” that you take part in using your trainer or a stationary bicycle.  I was told of this by some friends that are working with the Davis Phinney Foundation and the proceeds for the event go to Davis’ organization.

Davis’ son, Taylor is the official starter for the event and if you donate money to participate, you will be eligible for prizes which include a BMC road bike and other things.

I’ve known Davis, Connie and Taylor for a long time, most of my life. Super good people.  If you are going to be trainer bound this next week some, then go ahead and participate some in their event.   It is up to you to decide if you want to give and how much.

Here’s a link to the participants page.  And the link below to donate.

HERE’S HOW THIS WORKS: 1. GIVE NOW: To be eligible for any ToS prizes, you must make a donation of at least $10 USD to the Davis Phinney Foundation HERE (or click the Give Now button) and make a donation. If you don’t donate, you can still do the ToS, but you won’t be eligible for prizes. If you don’t do the ToS, you can still donate to be entered to win! 2. The more generous you are, the better your odds of winning — for every $10 you donate, you get 1 chance at winning. So if you donate $10, you get one chance. If you donate $50, you get 5 chances. $100 gets you 10 chances and so on. Get your friends to donate (click the “Fundraise Here” button to set up your donation collection page) to your cause and you’ll really boost the number of chances you have in the ToS prize draw! You can continue to donate all the way up until the very end of the ToS. 3. Based on all donations made up to the end of the ToS, we will calculate the number of chances each rider has earned. The Sufferfest minions will draw from all chances and then announce said winners on a date TBD. One prize per person, no exchanges. See disclaimer below. About the Davis Phinney Foundation: We are committed to supporting programs and research that deliver inspiration, information and tools that will enable people living with Parkinson’s to take more control in managing their disease. The Davis Phinney Foundation was founded in 2004 by Olympic medal-winner and cycling great, Davis Phinney, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000 at the age of 40. Today, Davis is both a role model in the cycling community and an inspiration to the estimated 1.5 million Americans and estimated 10 million worldwide who are currently living with the disease. Our mission to help people living with Parkinson’s to live well today makes us unique in the Parkinson’s community. The Davis Phinney Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to putting every dollar to work to fulfill our mission. We operate without an endowment and rely on direct support from individuals, foundations and corporations. – See more at: DavisPhinneyFoundation.org – See more at: http://dpf.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1144987#sthash.Y2NCdOA0.dpuf