Shocking: racer in French amateur race suspected of using mechanical doping crashes into race director during escape attempt

A rider in the French amateur race Route de l'Oise is suspected of having used mechanical doping. This was confirmed by the French newspaper Le Parisien Tuesday night. The suspect felt suspicious during a bike check and attempted to flee, nearly running over the race director in the process. Consequently, the French police initiated an investigation.

On Saturday, thirty teams and a total of 182 riders started the fortieth edition of the Route de l'Oise, a four-day cycling event for amateurs. During the first three weekend stages, won by the relatively Hugo Thiebaut, Charles Henri Fouyer, and Timothée Laleu, nothing unusual occurred. However, on Monday, before the start of the fourth and final stage from Crèvecœur-le-Grand to Grandvilliers, the organizers decided to perform a technical inspection on a bike. The target was the bike of Giovambattista Iera from AC Bellaingeoise.

"We had our suspicions about potential cheating," said race director Frédéric Lenormand. "On Saturday, he caught a breakaway group unusually quickly, and on Sunday, there were reports of strange noises during the race," he added.

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When the organization wanted to inspect his bike, the suspected racer slipped away to his truck. "I tried to stop him, but he ran off," says Lenormand. "I even tried to intervene. He came straight at me with his car, and I ended up on his hood for about a hundred meters, but it could have been even more dramatic."

Yannick Matura, a former amateur cyclist, witnessed the incident. "The worst part of this story is that a volunteer race leader ended up on the hood of a car," he says. "They say money ruins everything, but this is just a case of personal glory. That's all we're going to talk about. It's disheartening to see the integrity of a small organization being questioned. Cheating has always existed. It starts with parents arguing because their child finishes eighth instead of seventh."

The jury’s decision was firm: AC Bellaingeoise was removed from the race and barred from starting in the final stage, prompting the race management to file a formal complaint. "I provided a statement to the police this afternoon," Lenormand remarked. "It's incredibly sad that things have come to this. Why cheat when there's no monetary gain? The winner only receives a jersey, a trophy, and a bouquet of flowers."