I call bs on much of this piece.
Everything in this piece comes down to this one guy as some kind of engineer magician, the sole practitioner on the planet capable of making this. Where’s the engineering behind the magic of the magnetic wheels? How about something to prove that viability, even theoretical science, before throwing Team Sky under the bus.
Obviously the motors exist today. And this guy could have built one in 1998, no doubt. But, the batteries? Lithium-ion battery technology is very different today than 18 years ago. The fact that they took a 1999 bike and put 2016 battery and motor tech into one tells me nothing.
I believe Tyler and Lance when they say they never used nor heard of motors back in their day (through 2010).
I also don’t doubt that you’ve got a few guys using motors in recent years. Seems insanely risky, though, when you’re popped you’re popped and it’s hard to claim innocent mistake.
If the head of doping for 20 years is stating tons of people are coming to him within the peloton/directors, there is obviously a huge problem in the sport. And those people probably don’t go to him until after many years of the problem existing. If a young cross girl gets busted having one, it also shows you the cost to obtain is relatively affordable.
Jean-Pierre Verdy is the former testing director for the French Anti-Doping Agency who investigated doping in the Tour de France for 20 years.
Bill Whitaker: Have there been motors used in the Tour de France?
Jean-Pierre Verdy: Yes, of course. It’s been the last three to four years when I was told about the use of the motors. And in 2014, they told me there are motors. And they told me, there’s a problem. By 2015, everyone was complaining and I said, something’s got to be done.
Verdy said he’s been disturbed by how fast some riders are going up the mountains. As a doping investigator, he relied for years on informants among the team managers and racers in the peloton, the word for the pack of riders. These people told Jean-Pierre Verdy that about 12 racers used motors in the 2015 Tour de France.