UCI to use thermal cameras during Tour de France

The International Cycling Union, UCI, will use thermal cameras during the Tour de France to detect technological fraud such as auxiliary engines. The portable cameras are deployed from the side of the road and from motorbikes.

According to the BBC, the thermal cameras were developed by the French Atomic Energy Commission, on behalf of the French government. Sports Minister Thierry Braillard says the cameras are also capable of detecting a motor that is not moving. The UCI and organization of the Tour de France would have approved the thermal cameras.

It is striking that the UCI stated in April that the use of thermal cameras is not a good method to combat technological fraud. The organization said at the time that it would be easy to develop a heat shield and that the cameras detect too many disturbing heat sources. Earlier this year, however, a French television channel and Italian newspaper claimed to have discovered five auxiliary engines with their own thermal cameras during two races. This mechanical doping would not have been noticed by the UCI.

The UCI’s own developed system works with a tablet, special housing and software. It is not clear which technique is used in this ‘UCI scanner’. The organization states that the tablet is able to scan a complete bicycle, including the frame, wheels and all components, for irregularities within a minute.

The BBC reports that the UCI also checks the riders’ bikes at the start and finish with a system based on magnetic resonance, or an MRI scanner. In its own update on the detection of technological fraud, the cycling union reports that three thousand to four thousand tests will be carried out during the Tour, without going into the technology used. The 103rd edition of the Tour de France will start on 2 July.

French TV channel Stade 2 claims to have discovered an auxiliary engine with a thermal camera