Free Republic

Cycling officials on Saturday detained a bicycle ridden during the cyclocross world championships in Zolder, Belgium, to investigate "technological fraud," and on Sunday they confirmed the bike had a concealed motor in the frame. The International Cycling Union said the bike belonged to 19-year-old Belgian Femke Van den Driessche. It is the first official case of "mechanical doping" or "bike doping" at cycling's highest level. If used at the right time during a race even a small motor can provide a critical burst of power and speed.

An elite-level cyclist getting busted for a motor in a bicycle is perhaps the goofiest scandal ever Anyway, during the weekend, news broke that a competitor in the women’s under-23 competition, a Belgian rider named Femke Van den Driessche, had been flagged for what the UCI termed a “technological fraud.” “There was a concealed motor,” the UCI’s president, Brian Cookson, confirmed at a Sunday news conference.