Tour de France to adopt tougher inspections

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The International Cycling Union (UCI) are to increase anti-doping inspections ahead of the Tour de France, July 3-25, following allegations by former road cyclist Davide Cassani that certain competitors had been fitting discrete motors to their steeds in order to gain an illicit advantage.

Cassani, who now works as a pundit for Radiotelevisione Italiana, explained how such a mechanism could work in a clip that surfaced on video sharing site YouTube. That video garnered 1 million views in the five days following its May 29 debut and a further 1.5 million since.

The UCI ruling, following their Management Committee meeting on June 17 & 18, is that bicycles will be subject to more rigorous visual and electronic inspections in order to detect any concealed devices within the frame.

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne will also be brought on board as a partner in examining the place of technology within road racing.

Meanwhile it was Fabian Cancellara, whose impressive performances at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix were used as examples of situations in which a hidden motor could have lent an advantage, who was one of the few riders to gain places in the latest UCI World Rankings.

The Tour de Suisse, which concluded on June 20, was the last Men's Elite road race before the Tour de France.

A strong showing from Team Saxo Bank at the Tour de Suisse meant that Tour winner Frank Schleck went 66th to 14th, Cancellara climbed from 9th to 7th, and Jakob Fuglsang entered the top 200 at 48th.

Silver medallist Lance Armstrong of Team RadioShack rose to 41st, and the BMC Racing Team took the Mountains, Points, and Sprints classifications.

The Tour de France 2010 starts in the Netherlands on July 3 before visiting Belgium before 18 days around central and southern culminate in the traditional last stage finishing in Paris.

- See Davide Cassini and Michele Bufalino explain how motors could be hidden inside a racing bicycle on YouTube.com.
- Find out more about this year's Tour de France route at letour.com.