An amateur cyclist in France who was found using a hidden motor at a race has been sentenced for fraud and attempted fraud by a criminal court.
Yesterday, Cyril Fontayne, aged 43 and a plasterer by trade was sentenced to 60 hours’ community service at the Périgueux criminal court after admitting the charges, reports Ouest France.
He had already been banned from holding a racing licence for five years by the French cycling federation (FFC), which under yesterday’s ruling received symbolic damages of 1 euro.
The rider was targeted by France’s national anti-doping agency, the Agence française de lutte contre le dopage (AFLD) after a dramatic improvement in his results.
He was caught in October in the Dordogne as he drove home from the Category 3 Grand Prix de Saint-Michel-de-Double race, organised by his club, SA Mussidan.
Fontayne had been leading the race when he abandoned due to a puncture and was chased down by the AFLD’s regional representative, the former pro cyclist Christophe Bassons, who found the hidden motor.
Bassons revealed at the time that the motor was a Vivax Assist, which the cyclist had bought online and installed on his bike.
After yesterday’s hearing, Bassons said: “Today, it has been shown that cheating during a race can lead to a conviction for fraud."
Fontayne was also told to pay 88 euro to the Créon-d’Armagnac cycling club, organisers of another race in which he used the banned technology.
It’s the third case involving the discovery of a concealed motor in competition, and the first in France.
In August last year, an amateur cyclist in Italy was found using a hidden motor.
The most significant case so far involved one found in a bike belonging to under-23 Belgian rider Femke Van den Driessche at the UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships in 2016.
So let me get this straight. Ignore the driver and report using, presumably, OpSnap and the Met do nothing. Post it on social media, which they...
And if the money spent was specifically earmarked for active travel I would rather an extra metre of segregated cycle lane somewhere else.
Well now I've heard the excuses and had time to digest them I'm not impressed to say the least....
You could always try riding flats and a pair of normal trainers. Works for lots of people who aren't wannabe pro racers......
I had 2x bikes stolen from my shed a couple of years ago. I managed to recover one- not through the assistance of the police mind. I knew who did...
Definitely legal and a number of teams have used them, I remember an interview with IPT's chief technician a couple of years back where he revealed...
I cycled up Marsh Lane yesterday, and went through the bus gate behind the new number 16 bus (temple meads to kingswood via barton hill). So that...
If I had to pick an annual race (bar Covid) I'd go for Paris-Roubaix....
I share that hope too. I think it's slightly more complicated as the lower courts ordered that he had to be returned and now the Supreme Court have...
Although since September:...