The International Cycling Union (UCI) will meet at its headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland, Monday to discuss the possibility that some professionals are using motorised bikes.
The idea that there are some professionals using bikes with battery-powered motors surfaced during the Giro d’Italia. Italian newspaper Il Giornale published an article May 18 and Italian television Rai showed the bike May 26 during a post stage show.
Shortly after, YouTube videos appeared online and pointed towards Fabian Cancellara’s accelerations to win Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix in April. The video signalled strange finger moments by Cancellara, when, according to the author, he engaged the motor.
“It’s a story so crazy and stupid that I can not find the words,” Cancellara told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I never had batteries on my bike. Believe me, I go so hard because I work hard: there is no more to add.”
Cancellara formed the Ronde’s race winning move on the Molenberg and then dropped his last rival, Tom Boonen, on the Muur-Kapelmuur. He won solo with 1’15” to spare. At Paris-Roubaix, he rode away from his competition on the Mons-en-Pévèle cobbled sector .
UCI president, Pat McQuaid, denied to La Gazzetta dello Sport that there have been cases where cyclist have competed motorised bikes and denied that “there is a Cancellara case. In any event, there will be a meeting Monday at the headquarters in Aigle between our experts and representatives of the manufacturers.”
“I’ve tried this bike,” said Rai’s Davide Cassani, who presented the bike May 26. “If I was still racing, I could win a stage of the Giro d’Italia with it, even if I am 50 years old.”
McQuaid also asked Cassani to appear for the meeting Monday to supply any information he may have on the bike.
The motor can reportedly produce 100 watts for up to 90 minutes and fits completely in the seat tube. Gruber Assist introduced the motor at the 2008 Eurobike show.