UCI continue to inspect bikes for motors

The UCI are continuing to check bikes for motors. After Sunday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia to Genoa, a team of inspectors took the bikes of the first three finishers, Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo), and André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) in addition to those of Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Sprandi-Polkowice), and Paolo Tiralongo (Astana).

All five bikes were inspected, and subsequently cleared. Riders found guilty of technological fraud will be disqualified from the race in question, be suspended for a minimum of six months and face a fine of between 20,000 and 200,000 Swiss Francs. The UCI added a technical fraud rule to its regulations back in January.

The UCI president Brian Cookson told Spanish newspaper AS recently, “The UCI takes the issue of technological doping, such as the ability to use hidden motors, very seriously. The Cycling Independent Reform Commission report only confirmed the need to act decisively.”

UCI inspectors also inspected 36 bikes at the end of Milan-San Remo back in March. At the Italian classic, they didn’t just limit their testing to bikes that had been used in the race, but also seized some bikes from team trucks and brought them to be scanned.