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Tour de France To Use Thermal Cameras To Spot Cheats (npr.org)
An anonymous reader writes: At this year's Tour de France, thermal cameras and various other tools will be used to detect "mechanical doping." The image tests can be done anywhere and their locations will not be publicized, according to officials. NPR reports: "As far back as at least 2010, accusations have flown that elite cyclists were turning in superhuman performances with the help of motors that are hidden inside their bike's seat tube. Commercial versions of such devices can provide a steady power stream of around 200 watts -- the lower range of a pro cyclist's average output in a stage race. They can also be set to assist riders automatically if their pedaling cadence falls below a certain threshold. Tour de France officials explain how the detection system will work: 'Developed by the CEA (the French Atomic Energy Commission), the method consists of using a thermal imaging camera capable of detecting mechanical anomalies on the riders' bikes. The checks can be made in the race and on the side of the roads.'"
Yes. I see it done almost everyday. I'm a b pressure welder and the only way to test pipe welds without destroying the pipe itself is with xray or ultrasonic testing.
Keep on pretending like you know what you're talking about though.
You are kidding right? It doesn't look for just cracks. Different strength sources and exposure tes are used depending on the alloy on the thickness of the metal. They take an xray that does the entire welds from the root pass to the cap. Thickest I've seen shot is an inch and a half. They have the ability to detect cracks, porosity, lack of fusion, pin holes, slag entrapment, undercut on the INSIDE of the pipe, double bead, hollow root, excessive penetration, and a few other things.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. But please keep on pretending like you do.
Not quite right. UCI sets a minimum weight of a bike (6.8 kg), but enough technologies exist to make bicycles much lighter than that. If you don't want to compete, you can build a 3.38 kg bicycle, which is half the minimum weight. There are full suspension mountain bikes that come close to the UCI limit FFS. You won't be able to feel the motor inside one of these.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Why not make them display what they use? That way we'd at least get to see what stuff works.
At what point would they do this, exactly? And what would keep them from swapping out the bike before/after?
I get a feeling that a lot of the people commenting on this article have never actually watched professional cycling. They all say "the bike" like there's only one bicycle in use here; in fact, multiple types of bikes are used, as well as multiple instances of each bike. Watch the support cars; you'll see spare wheels and even entire spare bikes on some of them. So playing a shell game whereby you swap an inspected bike out with one that hasn't been checked...and then, before the finish line, swap them back again...would be relatively simple.
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