The main points in the article seem to follow our expectations.
- Kleur op Maat is more a loose association than a large team, they provide a single frame, some materials and kit to the riders but little more. The frame provided would probably then be the non-motorized bike 3, but that's speculation on my part.
- The signing was a family affair, with Din also being signed, although he's given up racing since. At this point Femke was 17, so that's not really surprising that the family would have a large say in it, of course.
- By being present at Zolder (and at an unspecified previous number of races) Niels was breaking the terms of his ban
- Prior to being banned Niels had, along with father Peter and her other brother Din, functioned as Femke's mechanics. Peter was bankrupt and the family used a trailer with personal advertising rather than a motorhome as Femke's race base.
- The article strongly suggests all dealings with Femke are family affairs. BKCP had some talks "with the family" but these came to nothing.
- Maud Kaptheijns says she knew Peter does carbon repairs, which raised suspicion when Femke was using a non-standard Wilier frame. As she points out that Wilier only do the one frame in such a style, it would therefore appear to be bike #1 that is referenced here, the one that is clearly different even with the naked eye?
- In your typical e-bike or modified crosser like we've seen links to posted in the thread, the battery is typically under the saddle or in a bottle, whereas Femke's was concealed in the frame. Modifications via additional bits of carbon are required to make this arrangement work, and the quote in the article suggests you'd need somebody who's a capable carbon repairman to be able to do this.
What I take from this:
Nico van Muylder is a pigeon fancier and cafeteria owner. As a friend of the family, it would seem odd that if he WAS going to modify a bike in such a fashion that a) he would want to conceal it, due to the risk of a mixup. b) he wouldn't have asked Peter to do it, since he's a friend and apparently a carbon repairman. All contracts and discussions with Femke appear to be family decisions, but due to her age, until relatively recently you wouldn't see anything necessarily wrong with that. With Din having given up the sport and Niels being banned, and with Peter having been bankrupt and using the trailer for Femke's race gear as the main means by which to advertise his business, it seems that the family almost NEEDS Femke being successful. After all, they seemingly don't have a lot of money what with the existing bankruptcy, those race bikes aren't cheap, and driving around the various race events won't be either. That's a lot of investment being made in her given the circumstances, which obviously piles more pressure on her as well, motor or no motor.
The information filled in by the article here only continues to feed the opinion that the deception is a small group thing and strengthens the argument that Peter is the ringleader. It also would seem to support the Kleur op Maat team position, and it seems fair to say that they would have had little connection if any to what was going on.