Cycling body to look into Fabian Cancellara cheating accusation

Cancellara, nicknamed Spartacus, won gold at the 54km time trial race at the 2016 Rio Olympics Keystone

The International Cycling Union (UCI) will examine accusations of cheating via a hidden motor levelled against the Swiss Olympic champion by an American cyclist in his book. 

In his book “Draft Animals” that was released last month, former American professional cyclist Phil Gaimon had accused Fabian Cancellara of using a hidden motor in his bike during his victorious outing at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2010. 

“When you watch the footage, his accelerations don’t look natural at all, like he’s having trouble staying on the top of the pedals. That fucker probably did have a motor,” wrote Gaimon. 

On the basis of these accusations, UCI president David Lappartient, told Cycling NewsExternal link that the Swiss-based governing body will gather more information to assess whether an investigation is required. 

“What I would say regarding the case you are speaking about is that I will try to have more information and we will investigate. We will investigate because we need to know exactly what is behind this. Of course, I heard all the rumours, like everybody, and I just want to know exactly. So we will investigate, that is our job,” Lappartient told Cycling News. 

Lappartient’s statement was later confirmed by a UCI spokesperson who said that the possibility of an investigation cannot be excluded if new information comes in. 

Cancellara competed in his last race on October 21 in Japan. The 36-year-old Bern native’s last “serious” race was the 54km time trial race at the Rio Olympics where he won gold. Eight years earlier, he had clinched the top spot at the Beijing Olympic Games.