Latest news with #Raudenski
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Tour De France Confronts a New Threat: Are Cyclists Using Tiny Motors?
MUR-DE-BRETAGNE, France – After the world's best cyclists charged up the final climb in Stage 7 of the Tour de France, passing a roaring crowd at the finish line, a group of officials in black polo shirts darted toward their bikes. The officials put red bracelets on the carbon frames. Their job was to conduct a little-known check in one of the world's most scandal-stained sports: The bikes were being inspected for tiny motors. Eight bikes were wheeled to a black tent a few feet from the podium, the handlebar tape still wet with riders' sweat. One belonged to the winner of the stage, Tadej Pogacar. The other bikes belonged to riders who cycling officials had targeted based on questionable performances or tips. Twenty years after a doping scandal upended the sport, professional cycling is pursuing dual challenges of keeping the world's most famous cycling race honest and convincing a skeptical audience of the Tour's legitimacy. That's why Nicholas Raudenski, a former U.S. Homeland Security investigator, was standing next to the finish line as officials escorted the bikes to an X-ray machine. Raudenski was hired last year as the head of the global cycling federation's unit against technological fraud, a form of cheating known colloquially as 'mechanical doping.' If he caught anyone, it would send a shock through a sport in which athletes routinely do the superhuman. What if the reason cyclists were able to glide up the Pyrenees mountains was because they weren't pedaling unassisted? Raudenski knew that only one professional cyclist had been caught competing with a hidden motor – a Belgian rider at the 2016 cyclo-cross world championships under-23 race. But the technology had improved dramatically since then. If he wasn't vigilant, Raudenski believed, the Tour could be consumed by riders propelled by tiny motors. The cycling federation, known by its name in French, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), was also trying to send a message to its fans. Many had followed the growing online discourse suggesting that cycling was once again turning a blind eye to cheaters. Fans posted videos about how easy it had become to sneak miniature motors into bike frames; they analyzed race footage which allegedly showed superhuman performances; they quoted former cyclists who swore the sport was still corrupt. 'If people are watching the Tour at home, or they're out here braving the heat, they need to be confident that what they see is legitimate, that it's credible,' said Raudenski. 'Without controls, it turns into a circus. … It turns in to motorized bike races.' Some fans have found an additional reason for skepticism in the performance of Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian cyclist who, at 26, is competing for his fourth Tour de France victory. By some measures, he is a stronger rider than even Lance Armstrong during his drug-aided peak. Armstrong, who now has a popular podcast, perhaps unhelpfully called Pogacar the greatest cyclist of all time and said he's glad they never raced head-to-head. Pogacar has repeatedly denied both mechanical and conventional doping allegations, calling cycling 'a victim of its past.' 'There was no trust, and it was up to us, the cyclists, to regain the trust. But there's nothing we can do,' he said at a news conference last year. In another sport, the rise of a generational talent might prompt an outpouring of admiration and a renewed interest in top competitions, like what Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps did for their disciplines. But the shadow of the doping scandals of the late 1990s and early 2000s, in which Armstrong and other top riders were retroactively found to be taking performance enhancing drugs, continues to undermine the sport. 'When someone is that good, that much better than everyone else, it's not surprising that people ask the same questions that they were asking a generation ago,' said Brian Cookson, the former head of the global cycling federation. The way the sport drug tests its athletes has changed. Cycling now spends far more money on anti-doping programs than any other sport and its tests have become more sensitive. Athletes present daily whereabouts to authorities during the offseason, so they can be available for unscheduled drug tests. The kind of 'blood doping' that Armstrong utilized, which was difficult to detect in the early 2000s, is now easily flagged. 'There's been a clear shift in the way that doping has been tackled in the sport,' said Olivier Banuls, the head of testing at the International Testing Agency, which runs the anti-doping program for professional cycling. Relatively few well-known professional cyclists have tested positive for drugs in the last decade, which Banuls says is proof of a strong testing regime and a changed culture. But some fans of the sport saw in that void the likelihood of foul play. And then, amid conventional doping suspicions, rumors about small motors emerged. The threats were concerning enough the French prosecutor's office took up the case. Cycling officials saw another existential threat to the sport, potentially more corrosive than drugs. As electronic bikes – with motors that provide up to 1,000 watts of power – have become available for recreational cyclists, hobbyists began building lighter road bikes with more discreet motors. Some of those are about 50 watts, hidden near the rear hub. It's theoretically enough power to change the conclusion of a race. There's no proof that professional cyclists are using those systems (the French prosecutor dropped its case), but rumors have surfaced enough to encourage skepticism. In 2021, the Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported that three riders claimed they heard 'strange noises' coming from the rear wheels of their competitors in the Tour de France. A Hungarian engineer said he had been commissioned to make bikes with hidden motors as far back as 1998 to be used by professionals. No cyclists were formally linked to those allegations. Raudenski's unit is trying to close gaps that would have allowed cyclists to avoid detection. During the Tour de France, bikes are now taken directly to be tested instead of returning first to team mechanics, as they once were. The bikes in question are weighed and then scanned with a handheld X-ray machine and tested with a magnetometer. In some cases, the bikes are almost completely disassembled. UCI announced last year that they would pay informants and whistleblowers who have information about mechanical doping. Raudenski wouldn't disclose what information those informants have offered, but said, 'We have people reaching out all the time.' After leaving the U.S. government, Raudenski worked as an internal investigator at FIFA, the world soccer association, where he looked into match fixing and corruption. He's aware that his work is both about catching possible cheaters – 'I ask myself, 'If I wanted to use a motor at a race, how I would do it?'' – as well as signaling to cycling fans that the sport has regained its integrity. The day before the Mur-de-Bretagne finish, Raudenski's unit inspected a bike that belonged to the Tudor Pro team. That team's coach, Sebastian Deckert, said he too was frustrated by the distrust still attached to cycling. He said he didn't understand the mechanics of inserting a motor into a bike frame, but was supportive of officials testing one of his riders' bikes. 'Anything that is possible to prevent cheating should be done,' he said.
Daily Maverick
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Cycling's war on hidden motors at Tour de France goes undercover
Cycling authorities are not only policing against doping in the peloton, but also against 'mechanical doping'. The International Cycling Union (UCI) has intensified its fight against mechanical doping, employing intelligence-driven methods to combat increasingly sophisticated alleged cheating in professional cycling. Once, inspectors relied on random X-rays and magnetic scans to catch offenders. Now, the UCI is borrowing tactics from law enforcement – building confidential sources, mapping risk profiles and monitoring bike changes in real time – to stay ahead in what officials call a technological arms race. Mechanical doping – riders using concealed motors – first gained attention in 2010 and led to the six-year ban of Belgium's Femke Van den Driessche after a Bluetooth-controlled motor was discovered in her seat tube at a cyclo-cross event. Since then, the UCI has expanded its detection arsenal, now employing daily checks of up to 60 bikes during the Tour de France. All bikes have passed the checks since the Tour started in Lille on 5 July. 'We have the ability… to go further with our examinations, whether that's a partial dismantlement of the bike to look into certain components, act upon suspicions, act upon information that we have,' Nick Raudenski, the UCI head of the Fight Against Technological Fraud, told Reuters on Wednesday. Raudenski, a former criminal investigator with the US Department of Homeland Security, took over in May 2024 and immediately pushed for a new approach. 'Bike controls, it's something that I've always equated anytime that I've done speeches or done training. It's like throwing your hook out in the middle of a lake trying to catch fish,' he said. 'If you don't have a strategy, if you're not informed about how to catch fish, what time of day, what kind of fish, where you can catch fish.' Think like a fraudster Part of that strategy is to think like the cheats. 'My idea is to put myself in the shoes of a fraudster. How would I do this and how would I get away with it? And that's part of my background as a criminal investigator – to try to think about not what we know, but what we don't know,' he said. The challenge is relentless innovation. 'It's a bit of a technological arms race. Components are getting lighter, smaller. Easier to conceal, which is harder to detect,' Raudenski said. 'And so, trying to stay ahead of what's potentially possible is always a challenge.' For Raudenski, the mission is clear: keep fans believing in the sport. 'People still need to believe, at least from the technological fraud side, that they're not climbing a stage like yesterday, and people just immediately think, 'oh, well, they must be on a motor',' he said. 'Knowing that our processes are in place, that we're conducting the controls that we're doing, that there is that insurance that the enforcement controls that we have in place, that doesn't happen at this level.' Reuters/DM
The Star
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Cycling-War on hidden motors goes undercover
Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 17 - Bollene to Valence - Bollene, France - July 23, 2025 General view of riders in action during stage 17 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier BOLLENE, France (Reuters) -The International Cycling Union (UCI) has intensified its fight against mechanical doping, employing intelligence-driven methods to combat increasingly sophisticated alleged cheating in professional cycling. Once, inspectors relied on random X-rays and magnetic scans to catch offenders. Now, the UCI is borrowing tactics from law enforcement – building confidential sources, mapping risk profiles and monitoring bike changes in real time – to stay ahead in what officials call a technological arms race. Mechanical doping – riders using concealed motors – first gained attention in 2010 and led to the six-year ban of Belgium's Femke Van Den Driessche after a bluetooth-controlled motor was discovered in her seat tube at a cyclo-cross event. Since then, the UCI has expanded its detection arsenal, now employing daily checks of up to 60 bikes during the Tour de France. All bikes have passed the checks since the Tour started in Lille on July 5. "We have the ability... to go further with our examinations, whether that's a partial dismantlement of the bike to look into certain components, act upon suspicions, act upon information that we have," Nick Raudenski, the UCI Head of the Fight Against Technological Fraud, told Reuters on Wednesday. Raudenski, a former criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, took over in May last year and immediately pushed for a new approach. "Bike controls, it's something that I've always equated anytime that I've done speeches or done training, it's like throwing your hook out in the middle of a lake trying to catch fish," he said. "If you don't have a strategy, if you're not informed about how to catch fish, what time of day, what kind of fish, where you can catch fish." THINK LIKE A FRAUDSTER Part of that strategy is to think like the cheats. "My idea is to put myself in the shoes of a fraudster. How would I do this and how would I get away with it? And that's part of my background as a criminal investigator, to try to think about not what we know, but what we don't know," he said. The challenge is relentless innovation. "It's a bit of a technological arms race. Components are getting lighter, smaller. Easier to conceal, which is harder to detect," Raudenski said. "And so, trying to stay ahead of what's potentially possible is always a challenge." For Raudenski, the mission is clear: keep fans believing in the sport. "People still need to believe, at least from the technological fraud side, that they're not climbing a stage like yesterday, and people just immediately think, 'oh, well, they must be on a motor'," he said. "Knowing that our processes are in place, that we're conducting the controls that we're doing, that there is that insurance that the enforcement controls that we have in place, that doesn't happen at this level." (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
War on hidden motors goes undercover
BOLLENE, France - The International Cycling Union (UCI) has intensified its fight against mechanical doping, employing intelligence-driven methods to combat increasingly sophisticated alleged cheating in professional cycling. Once, inspectors relied on random X-rays and magnetic scans to catch offenders. Now, the UCI is borrowing tactics from law enforcement – building confidential sources, mapping risk profiles and monitoring bike changes in real time – to stay ahead in what officials call a technological arms race. Mechanical doping – riders using concealed motors – first gained attention in 2010 and led to the six-year ban of Belgium's Femke Van Den Driessche after a bluetooth-controlled motor was discovered in her seat tube at a cyclo-cross event. Since then, the UCI has expanded its detection arsenal, now employing daily checks of up to 60 bikes during the Tour de France. All bikes have passed the checks since the Tour started in Lille on July 5. "We have the ability... to go further with our examinations, whether that's a partial dismantlement of the bike to look into certain components, act upon suspicions, act upon information that we have," Nick Raudenski, the UCI Head of the Fight Against Technological Fraud, told Reuters on Wednesday. Raudenski, a former criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, took over in May last year and immediately pushed for a new approach. "Bike controls, it's something that I've always equated anytime that I've done speeches or done training, it's like throwing your hook out in the middle of a lake trying to catch fish," he said. "If you don't have a strategy, if you're not informed about how to catch fish, what time of day, what kind of fish, where you can catch fish." THINK LIKE A FRAUDSTER Part of that strategy is to think like the cheats. "My idea is to put myself in the shoes of a fraudster. How would I do this and how would I get away with it? And that's part of my background as a criminal investigator, to try to think about not what we know, but what we don't know," he said. The challenge is relentless innovation. "It's a bit of a technological arms race. Components are getting lighter, smaller. Easier to conceal, which is harder to detect," Raudenski said. "And so, trying to stay ahead of what's potentially possible is always a challenge." For Raudenski, the mission is clear: keep fans believing in the sport. "People still need to believe, at least from the technological fraud side, that they're not climbing a stage like yesterday, and people just immediately think, 'oh, well, they must be on a motor'," he said. "Knowing that our processes are in place, that we're conducting the controls that we're doing, that there is that insurance that the enforcement controls that we have in place, that doesn't happen at this level." REUTERS
France 24
11-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Raudenski: from Homeland Security to Tour de France engine hunter
"I'm not one to look away. If we find something, it's going to be a big deal" he told AFP. With his solid build, bushy beard, baseball-cap and gravelly voice, the American has been the head of the fight against technological fraud at the International Cycling Union (UCI) since 2024, a potential plague that hovers over an increasingly fast peloton. Raudenski explains he tried to get into the mindset of a fraudster, to imagine how they might behave in order to avoid detection, in the same manner he did at the Department of Homeland Security. "Having that mentality of what you expect to see, what's normal, and then what's out of the ordinary, what's abnormal,"he said. "Some idiot decided to blow up a plane by putting a bomb in his shoe (Richard Reid in 2001) so now everyone has to take their shoes off at the security check at airports," he explains. "Now it's the same in cycling." Although technological fraud is often discussed, the only proven case in professional cycling dates back to 2016 when the Belgian Femke Van den Driessche, 19, was found to have a motor in her bike at the U23 Cyclo-cross World Championships. Since then despite thousands of checks nothing more has been found. "Why haven't we found anything since 2016 why hasn't there been any proven case since the girl in Belgium, I just don't know, but it haunts me," he said. 'That's not me' To find out why that is the case the UCI is strengthening its system year after year. In 2024, some 192 bikes were X-rayed at the Tour de France, including systematically those of the stage winner and the overall leader, a 17% increase compared to 2023 "This year there will be more," insists the UCI, which has also launched a rewards program offering incentives, including financial ones, to those who provide real information. At last month's Critérium du Dauphiné Raudenski gave AFP a behind-the-scenes look at these tests, from the finish line, where he intercepts the riders, to the tent set up behind the podium where the bikes are examined. "At the start of the stage the race stewards inspect the bikes with magnetic boards," he said. "They can then alert us by phone if they notice something. "We watch the race to see if anything stands out, like a rider changing his bike. "That allows us to target riders we want to test come the end of the stage aside from those we automatically do." The UCI also checks the bikes of riders who undergo doping tests. To check the bikes, Raudenski and his team now use a portable X-ray machine with which technicians, wearing dosimeters around their necks, scan the bikes from top to bottom. "These (X-ray) machines are so high grade we can see everything that is inside the bike," he said. "It is like one in a hospital. "This prevents the need to dismantle 30 bikes every day. "There are not 150 places where one can hide something. "Also we know exactly what we are looking for." Raudenski says he and his team are constantly on the lookout regarding the latest technology. "We're looking at developments across drone capabilities how they power battery-powered drones and how they can hide a smaller battery," he added. He is "very confident", though, that the checks are effective. "I am really keen people believe what they see in the ascent of a mountain or a dazzling attack and do not say: 'ah there you go he is using an engine'." As for accusations that the UCI might bury a potential case to avoid damaging the sport's image, the former investigator is adamant: "That's out of the question." © 2025 AFP
