I always found what Greg Lemond had to say believable. When you have a bunch athletes all in their prime, all having access to the same training, nutrition, and equipment someone is going to look for an advantages over the others. So this would not surprise me.
If, and its big if, regenerative micro motors did exist and were effective they would be: 1 Commerically available 2. Detectable by xray/thermal scan, Dan
Great video Dan ! You showed more balance than a tight rope walker,well done. Looking forward to your next video. All the best! By the way, you should doing a video on the ongoing “sticky bottle’ situation
Surely you just need to weigh the bikes and if they are much more than 6.8kg they're worthy of further inspection. Xray if its available or disassembly (get the team mechanic to do it under the nose of the scrutineer).
I really respect Greg but i dont believe motor doping was a thing because the battery tech just wasnt there pre 2016. Ebikes have only become a reality since battery technology improved since 2018.
I don't think the motors being used then were anything like the ebikes that we are seeing today. More like something that could give 50 extra watts for 5 minutes or something.
As far as I know, Van Den Driessche was not even caught riding a motor assisted bike in a race, there was a bike found in a cyclocross race, which was considered to be her spare bike. But she didn't ride this bike in the race itself.
I`ve heard four versions - she was caught with it in the bike she rode in the race - she was caught with the bike she rode and a spare both fitted with motors and that it was only a spare bike that had the motor and finally it was a borrowed bike she rode at the last moment as hers had a last minute mechanical... thats rumours for you, Dan
Agree its not a thing. The whole team would need to be complicit and would be finished (individually and as a whole) as your point at the end. You can argue a rider taking pills did it on their own volition.
There's a podcast series on the subject called Ghost in the Machine which is a good listen. Definitely recommended. A few thlughts I'd raise. Hub motors would be too risky as you might end up with a neutral service wheel if you puncture. If you were to use one on a mountain stage, is it really worth the additional weight sapping your energy just for a relatively short period of boost? (with the small batteries that would be required to fit invisibly in a frame, and also not to raise suspicion from the weight if someone picked up the bike) There's a turbo trainer (from 4iii) which has the USP of using wireless electromagnetic resistance (E.g. An emf motor in reverse) and no wires / flywheel and silent operation, but the issue is it can't generate enough resistance to be useful unless it's running at very high wheel rpm, which means that an emf motor in a bike with magnets in the rim can only generate power at high wheel speeds which you don't get on uphill mountain stages. And a flywheel would be no use either because it would need a significant amount of mass in the flywheel and gradually lose rpm, again problematic on long uphill mountain stage. It's also worth mentioning that no motors found doesn't equal no motor doping - many riders never failed drug tests but admitted later to it, but that doesn't mean it's going on!
Hey man, really hard to focus on what you are saying with the constant wind and vibration noise. I would suggest getting a furry microphone wind screen to stop it. It can't be more than 10 pounds/dollars/euros and would improve your audio. Would go a long way.
I’m so glad someone else has mentioned this! I had to keep sliding the volume control up and down and wished Dan would keep his riding and his desire to educate and inform separate.
Good video, I don’t think the whole motor doping is a thing now. The Boonen Cancellara video does look suspicious though. Weather is looking good in the Vendee by the way , we just got back after 2 weeks of rain at easter
@@vintagevelos9517 lemond is suspicious when so many bike changes happen in a race. also the crazy cadence that goes hand in hand with a motor (kopecky spinning for miles along the paris-roubaix cobbles).
@@carlosgaspar8447 For sure it raises questions but its not evidence - and when I watch stages I don`t see that many actual bike changes - plenty of "magic spanners" but not that many changes - especially of the leaders, Dan
@@vintagevelos9517 it's true we don't much see the bike swaps, but we also don't see many bikes breaking in two. some shops ask that you don't place too much pressure on certain carbon tubes, meanwhile these same bikes are crashing hard and riders getting back on them. i remember cancellara crashing with the peloton going full blast, getting a bike swap and catching the group in a few minutes. sure he is phenomenal but it does raise questions. same with the van aert video a few years ago in cyclocross where MVDP had to watch his language regarding van aert's performance.
For sure - though I`d bet a rider looking to cheat would grab a few pills rather than a motor - especially as the team would have to be in on it - Festina Affair/US Postal/Operation Puerto all put a stop to any hint of team sponserred cheating (in my opinion - and I`m aware it will only take one big bust to make me look a total fool...), Dan
Dan you need sort out the wind noise problem. Get a dead cat. Greg L was talking crap in that Roadmen interview about motor doping. He's becoming the old bloke shouting at the clouds.
