Sports journalist Chris Marshall-Bell presents a new investigative podcast delving into whether motors are used in competitive cycling more than we think.
In January 2016,19-year-old Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a collection of wires, motors and batteries buried deep inside her bike at the Cyclo-cross World Championships.
She was then suspended for six years and berated by global media as the only rider ever to be banned by The Union Cycliste Internationale for having a motor in her bike, despite many previous suspicions of other competitive cyclists that have never been confirmed or disproved.
Now eight years later, in Ghost in the Machine, Chris seeks to reveal the truth around motors in cycling as he investigates this scandalous discovery.
He will speak to people who were at the centre of the unearthing in 2016 including exclusive interviews with Femke Van den Driessche, who has never spoken out before since the event, and her family friend embroiled in the case, Nico van Muylder.
Chris unpicks a tangled web of bizarre misdemeanours, claims and counterclaims from jail time and bankruptcy to death threats and carnival cat costumes.
He also interviews current and ex-riders, including Tour de France winners, on whether they think motors have been used in cycling.
Ghost in the Machine is a Stak production and will be available every Monday from 15 January on all podcast platforms.
