On the eve of the Tour of Flanders, the UCI held a joint press conference with Fabian Cancellara and finally revealed the secret behind the Swiss rider's amazing displays of power over the past year. "After his incredible wins last year at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix the UCI has been working non-stop to determine how Fabian Cancellara was able to generate so much more power than his competitors," said Tael Wynt, the head of the UCI's technical standards committee.
"At first we focused on the potential for a small motor to be placed in the downtube or seatube of the bicycle, but after much study we rejected this possibility. The crucial clue came when, in looking at video of his wins, we noticed that he was not wearing his sponsor's brand of shorts," added Wynt.
In a packed press room at race headquarters, Wynt revealed that Cancellara has been wearing a specially made pair of Vermarc Sportswear shorts that includes a very special fabric in the weave. When an electric current is applied to the shorts, the fabric behaves much like human muscle fibers. "Our testing has shown that these shorts can provide up to a 10% boost in the power of the leg muscles. In a sport where 2-3% is significant, you can just imagine what effect this had on Cancellara's power."
Wynt also disclosed that the battery used to activate the fibers in the shorts was disguised as a normal race radio. "We noticed that every time Cancellara showed a burst of speed, he was fiddling with his race radio. The battery was good enough for up to one hour of assist which explains his long breakaway at last year's Paris-Roubaix."
The fact that a race radio was instrumental in carrying out this elaborate hoax was not lost on the UCI. "Everyone thinks we are just being 'old school' and unresponsive to the new generation of professional cyclists. But here is a great example of how race radios are ruining the sport of pro cycling," added Wynt.
The UCI acknowledged that they were not sure what to do about the revelation. Clearly, Cancellara will not be wearing his 'lucky' Vermarc Sportswear shorts in the upcoming Classics, but the technology is so revolutionary that the UCI is considering changing it's anti-technology stance and looking into ways to utilize what they are calling 'muscle spandex.'
"We are thinking of allowing the shorts to be used in attempts at the hour record. We will still require the racer to ride a diamond frame bike without aero bars, but with the power shorts it will be like a 'ying and yang' where the old meets the new," concluded Wynt.
"At first we focused on the potential for a small motor to be placed in the downtube or seatube of the bicycle, but after much study we rejected this possibility. The crucial clue came when, in looking at video of his wins, we noticed that he was not wearing his sponsor's brand of shorts," added Wynt.
In a packed press room at race headquarters, Wynt revealed that Cancellara has been wearing a specially made pair of Vermarc Sportswear shorts that includes a very special fabric in the weave. When an electric current is applied to the shorts, the fabric behaves much like human muscle fibers. "Our testing has shown that these shorts can provide up to a 10% boost in the power of the leg muscles. In a sport where 2-3% is significant, you can just imagine what effect this had on Cancellara's power."
Wynt also disclosed that the battery used to activate the fibers in the shorts was disguised as a normal race radio. "We noticed that every time Cancellara showed a burst of speed, he was fiddling with his race radio. The battery was good enough for up to one hour of assist which explains his long breakaway at last year's Paris-Roubaix."
The fact that a race radio was instrumental in carrying out this elaborate hoax was not lost on the UCI. "Everyone thinks we are just being 'old school' and unresponsive to the new generation of professional cyclists. But here is a great example of how race radios are ruining the sport of pro cycling," added Wynt.
The UCI acknowledged that they were not sure what to do about the revelation. Clearly, Cancellara will not be wearing his 'lucky' Vermarc Sportswear shorts in the upcoming Classics, but the technology is so revolutionary that the UCI is considering changing it's anti-technology stance and looking into ways to utilize what they are calling 'muscle spandex.'
"We are thinking of allowing the shorts to be used in attempts at the hour record. We will still require the racer to ride a diamond frame bike without aero bars, but with the power shorts it will be like a 'ying and yang' where the old meets the new," concluded Wynt.
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