"I don't think that's an issue now" — Greg LeMond on motor doping in cycling

Former American pro Greg LeMond has recently spoken about the current standard of anti-motor doping protocols in professional cycling, addressing concerns over hidden motors in the sport.

The American legend has an impressive palmarès, including three Tour de France, two World Championships and 31 victories overall. He has often talked about doping rumours in the current peloton, and this time he did so at Rouleur Live.

"All of a sudden, the quality of bikes, derailleurs and batteries has gotten so much better over the last eight years," LeMond said in comments gathered by Domestique, highlighting how technological advances could make detection much harder. Despite this, he expressed confidence in current controls. "I don't think that's an issue now. You've got to keep at it. You've got to test it."

Motor doping, or mechanical doping, involves using a concealed motor on a bicycle to gain an unfair advantage. The first confirmed case came in 2016, when Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a hidden motor during the under-23 Women’s event at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships, resulting in a six-year ban. The Belgian rider did not defend herself and immediately announced her retirement after knowing the sentence.

One of the first allegations of mechanical doping can be traced back to the 2010 Tour of Flanders, when Fabian Cancellara dropped Tom Boonen after attacking in the steepest section of the Kapelmuur without leaving the saddle. The Swiss legend has always denied the accussations.

LeMond explained that cadence analysis can help detect riders using hidden motors. "There's an RPM efficiency on power output. So if you're, if you see, even on climbs today, you'll see riders within five RPMs at the same power output," he said. "When you see somebody above that, five to 10 RPMs, that's not a good sign."

He also proposed more advanced detection methods in the past, but they were ultimately rejected by the UCI. "I actually did some research and I found these x-ray machines that weren't cheap, but you could test every bike at the peloton in 60 seconds," LeMond revealed.

He also explained how such technology could make anti-mechanical doping controls more efficient. "These are things at the border of control. And that means you don't even have to take the bikes," he said, drawing a comparison with security screening systems used in other industries.

Despite setbacks, LeMond expressed cautious optimism about the current system. "I do think you look at the RPMs of riders today, I know they're testing. So it gives me a lot of satisfaction," he concluded.