“If I find it, it will make noise,” Nick Raudenski, the ex-terrorists who track down the engines in the peloton

In an old life, Nick Raudenski “Tracking terrorists”. In addition, Today, he is looking for engines in the Tour de France bikes. Nevertheless, “I am not the type to look away. Similarly, If we find something, it will make noise ”he assures AFP.

Solid size. Similarly, drunk beard, cap and deep voice, the American has since 2024 have the head of the fight against technological fraud at the International Cycling Union (UCI), a potential scourge that floats like a spectrum above an increasingly bicycle peloton.

Pass advertising

He puts himself in the heads of cheaters to counter them – "if i find it, it

“When I arrived. Additionally, Similarly, the first thing I did “if i find it, it was to put myself in the shoes of a cheater. Similarly, How would I use an engine without being caught up in the patrol? However, Exactly like when I was a criminal investigator in the American Department of Internal Security ”he explains.

Read too Mechanical doping: How do you make an electric bike?

“I worked in the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, An idiot tried to explode an airplane by placing a bomb in his sole. Moreover, and now everyone should take off his shoes at the airport. Similarly, It’s the same thing in cycling “adds the one who also officiated to FIFA. Consequently, UEFA and International Testing Agency (ITA), the independent body in charge of UCI anti -doping operations.

If technological fraud is often mentioned. Nevertheless, the only proven case in professional cycling dates back to 2016 when the young Belgian woman van “if i find it, it den Driessche, 19, had concealed an engine at the Cyclo-Cross Hopes Worlds. Therefore, Since then, the thousands of checks have been carried out, without a new find.

“When I was elected, in 2017, it was a real subject. For example, Besides. I was one of those who issued a certain number of reserves, not on the fact that there are, but on the way in which we were fighting at UCI. So we now have these portable X -ray machines which are worth roughly 50,000 euros each. We scan bikes. They are controlled on arrival. And then we do not refrain from bicycle disassembly to verify that there is nothing inside. We do it quite regularly. And, on this Tour de France, it may be the case … “said on the subject David Lappartient in Le Figaro at the start of the Tour de France. “Why didn’t we find “if i find it, it anything?” It is either because there is nothing to find, either because we do not get there. This question haunts me. I am here to answer it “Affirme Raudenski.

"if i find it, it

Bikes spent on X -rays

To find, the UCI strengthens, year after year, its system. In 2024. 192 bikes were controlled by X -ray on the Tour de France, of which systematically that of the stage winner and the yellow jersey, an increase of 17% compared to 2023. “This year there will be more”insists the UCI which launched in parallel a reward program offering incentives in particular. financial to that which would give usable information.

Read too Mechanical doping. a reality in many sports

Pass advertising

At the last Critérium du Dauphiné on June 13 in Combloux, Nick Raudenski brought AFP back behind the scenes of these checks, “if i find it, it from the finish line, where he intercepts the runners, to the tent installed behind the podium where the bikes are dissected. “At the start of the stage, commissioners control the bikes using magnetic tablets. They can alert us by phone if they have noticed something in particular ”he says.

“After we look at the race to see if something is out of the ordinary. such as a teammate who draws a particularly supported relay or a runner who changes bikes. This allows us to target the runners we want to test on arrival in addition to those that are. automatically designated. ” The UCI also checks the bikes of runners who pass an anti -doping test. To analyze bikes. Nick Raudenski and his team now use a portable X -ray apparatus with which technicians, dosimeter around the neck, scan the machines from top to bottom.

Formula 1. “if i find it, it drones

“These devices are so efficient that you can see the serial number, the cables, all that can be inside a bicycle. It’s like in the hospital. It prevents us from dismantling 30 bikes every day. There are not 150 places to hide something. And we know exactly what we are looking for. ” Raudenski assures that his team is “Constantly on the lookout for the latest technologies”look at what’s going on in other sports “Like Formula 1”. auscult “Batteries increasingly miniature to fly drones”.

Car “Progress has been enormous in recent years”. Despite everything. Nick Raudenski says he is “Very confident” As for the effectiveness of controls, while UCI’s detection capacity is sometimes questioned. “I want people to believe it when they look at a collar climb. a dazzling attack and do not say: Ah here it uses an engine.”

As for the accusations that the “if i find it, it UCI can bury a potential case so as not to harm the image of sport. the former investigator is categorical: “It’s out of the question”. “I don’t know if it happened in the past but diverting the look is not my type,” he says. If we find something, it will make noise. ”