The French veteran racer caught with a rudimentary form of mechanical doping at a local race in the Dordogne region has played down the seriousness of his cheating, claiming he decided to cheat after suffering with a sciatic nerve problem in his right leg.
French police seized the bike and the veteran rider was questioned on Sunday following a race in Saint-Michel-de-Double, near Bordeaux. He was competing in a race for veterans and juniors, with just 16 riders in action.
"I tried and I lost," the 43 year-old told radio station France Bleu.
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"I don't sell drugs and I didn't kill a child, I put a motor in my bike. I'll serve as an example but I think it will do good to cycling because I am not the only one doing it."
According to L'Equipe, who revealed the identity of the rider and attended a press conference held by police in Perigueux, the veteran used the bike fitted with a hidden motor five times in recent weeks, earning around €500 in prize money thanks to his success. He reportedly bought the rudimentary downtube motor from a French website and fitted it to a frame bought online from China. He suggested that the French site sells between twenty and thirty motors a month.
L'Equipe reports that the rider told public prosecutor Jean-Francois Mailhes that he used mechanical doping to “compete equally” with his local rivals, suggesting that some of them use "various methods of doping".
- French veteran rider reportedly caught using mechanical doping
- Doubts raised over effectiveness of UCI tests for mechanical doping
- Mechanical doping: A brief history
- Froome: I couldn't start a race if I believed someone was using a motor
Bassons blocks his escape
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