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On an energetic ride out on my best road-bike recently I saw, ahead, in the distance another cyclist.

When I am in such a mood I make a point of trying to catch and overtake them. It is a sort of test, one-up-manship, personal challenge, a show off, call it what you will.

I was on the last couple of miles of my ride anyway and so a bit of a final effort would not be too much of an issue. I pushed down harder on the pedals to cover the tarmac in the gap between us. My first impression was that it would be quite an easy gathering up of the other cyclist, after all, his appearance put him in the category of;
1) Senior age
2) Smart but Casually dressed
3) Likely to be going to the shop to get beer or bread.

The gap remained fairly constant on the straight and flat road in spite of my best endeavours at about 25mph, pretty speedy on a busy main road and amongst traffic. I found this lack of progress disappointing but more to the point, baffling.

How was this possible?

I had a lightweight bike and looked the part of a racer, he was wearing a tweed sports jacket and had a flat cap. Some three miles along the road I did catch him up but only thanks to him stopping at the kerb to light up a cigarette. I gained some comfort from the fact that he was on an electric powered bike.

These have gained some popularity in recent years mainly down to technological improvements to make motors and batteries considerably more efficient, less unwieldy and the bikes themselves quite stylish and sleek. I am of the opinion that, in their place and for a target market, they are useful and helpful.

I was therefore horrified to see that within the last couple of weeks the first case of a motor being hidden inside the bike of a Professional Cyclist was confirmed at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Belgium.

Top level cycling has had a hard few years what with doping scandals including the very high profile Lance Armstrong case but this case, termed "motorised doping" could be even more damaging to the sport.

There have been rumours, suspicions and conspiracy theories over the strange behaviour of riders and bikes in some major events pointing towards power assistance. For example, a Pro Rider, fell from his bike on a sharp bend and his machine continued to spin around on the road surface as though under independent motion. Another top 10 ranked rider showed exceptional acceleration up a steep cobblestone incline when the laws of physics and metabolism suggested it was impossible. The strange fiddling with a button above a brake lever was picked out on TV footage prior, again, to a blistering and seemingly effortless spurt of speed by a former World Champion. In a fan's video at the Tour of Spain a Pro-Team mechanic was supposedly seen to be hiding a broken motorised bike by the side of the road.

These occurrences were either not investigated or were unfounded which is not surprising given the huge cover-up by the cycling authorities of the Armstrong scandal over a decade and more.

The first motorised doping case came to light when the rider, a 19 year old female member of the Belgian National Team had to abandon the World Championship Race with a broken chain on the final lap. Whether through the post race scrutiny process or just luck wires were seen emerging from the seat post leading to discovery of a motor propelling the bottom bracket.

The rider denied cheating relying on a defence that the bike was not hers but that of a friend and her mechanic had given it to her in error.

The insertion of a motor into a high specification racing bike is quite a technical operation and so this implicates those with the knowledge and experience to do it either as part of a professional team set-up or on the fringes.

As far back as 2010 a former Pro-Rider produced a short video demonstrating how  a combined battery pack and electric motor could fit inside the seat down tube and with a toothed connector onto a matching arrangement on the bottom bracket axle. In this form of transmission battery power can produce up to 200 watts for around 60 to 90 minutes.

In the key stages of a major European Race or National Tour access to such an illegal  booster system would be invaluable to those mindful of cheating.

The implications of the case in the context of competitive cycling are severe not just for the rider if proven guilty but for the sport in general. Even the unwitting manufacturer of the donor bike, the famous Willier Triestina brand is considering suing the Belgian rider and her support team for bringing their reputation into disrepute.

The Regulatory Body of Cycling is beginning to acknowledge that technological fraud of this type may have existed for some years prior to the introduction, only recently, of checks thought to involve scanning a bike for magnetic resistance.

The cycling world has been shocked and outraged by the revelations.

The great Eddy Merckx advocated life suspension for those caught stating that it was worse than doping and more like motorcycling.

Others expressed sadness at the idea of a 19 year old girl doing such a thing herself or under duress from others and expecting to get away with it.

Just like a powered bike, this controversy will just run and run...........