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139 mechanical doping checks carried out at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

published 27 February 2016

UCI out in force at Belgian race

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UCI officials check bikes for motors after stage 18 at the Tour de France (Image credit: Twitter photo by Philippe Maertens)

The UCI have confirmed to Cyclingnews that it carried out 139 checks for motors and mechanical doping at the men’s and women’s editions of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The races both took place on Saturday with the UCI spreading out their tests over a two-day period and including eight teams. No rules were found to have been broken.

Belgian Federation ready to buy expensive scanner to deter mechanical doping

Mechanical doping checks carried out at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirms that it has carried out unannounced bike checks at both Men and Women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday 27 February, 2016, and that no technological fraud was detected,” the UCI confirmed in an email after Cyclingnews had contacted them.

“Tests concerned 139 bikes from eight teams participating,” the statement added.

The UCI have stepped up their efforts recently in a bid to monitor the situation. In January, a motor was found in the bike of cyclo-cross rider Femke Van den Driessche. In the aftermath, UCI president Brian Cookson vowed to increase the scale and number of checks at races, using more sophisticated technology, saying: "Please don’t delude yourself that we haven’t been taking this seriously."

On Saturday morning Team Lotto Jumbo confirmed that a number of their bikes had been tested and posted a video of one of the check on their Twitter account.