The Union Cycliste Internationale suspended Femke for 6 years for violating its rules relating to ‘technical fraud’. She has also been given a fine of CHF 20,000, has been ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings against her and has been disqualified from all the races going as far back as October 11th 2015 and ordered to return the medals and prize money.
The Vivax electric motor system found in Van den Driessche’s bike was hidden in its seat tube, which also concealed the battery. It was activated by a button located underneath the bar tape using Bluetooth.
“We have invested considerable resources in developing this new and highly effective scanning technology and also in strengthening the sanctions applicable to anyone found cheating in this way. This case is a major victory for the UCI and all those fans, riders and teams who want to be assured that we will keep this form of cheating out of our sport,” said the UCI president Brian Cookson, but the Mechanical doping scandal doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Femke Van den Driessche was the first and so far the last one to be caught, but just a few days ago, a joined report done by French and Italian journalists claimed to have found 7 riders cheating at the Italian races Strade Bianche and Coppi e Bartali. Read more about the story HERE.
