Femke Van Den Driessche

Femke Van Den Driessche

To person
Date of birth	27th August 1996 (age 24)
nation	Belgium
discipline	Mountain bike cyclo-cross road
doping
2015-2021	Suspension for motor doping
Team (s)
Until 2016	Kleur op Maat Team Belgian national team
Last updated: August 1st, 2018

Femke Van Den Driessche in Namur (2015)

Femke Van Den Driessche (born August 27, 1996 in Asse ) is a former Belgian cyclist who was active in cyclo-cross races and on mountain bikes . Her career ended after being banned for motor doping .

Athletic career

In 2011 Femke Van Den Driessche became Belgian junior champion in cyclo-cross racing , two years later on the mountain bike. In 2015 she won the title of European champion (U23) in cyclo-cross racing and the following year she became Belgian champion in the same age group.

Doping ban 2016

Femke Van Den Driessche was one of the favorites at the Cyclocross World Championships in January 2016 in Heusden-Zolder , Belgium , but gave up in the last round. Inspectors from the World Cycling Association Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) found a bike equipped with an auxiliary motor in their team's pickup truck that is said to have belonged to her. Van Den Driessche protested her innocence: the bike was not the one she rode in the race, but that of a friend. It was confirmed that Van Den Driessche had contested the race on a compliant bike. Two days later, the alleged owner of the manipulated bike got in touch and confirmed that he had bought it from Van Den Driessche the year before. He parked the bike on the team's van, whereupon one of the mechanics mistook it, cleaned it and invited it. In such cases, it is not just the use of a motorized racing machine in the race that counts as illegal motor doping , but its provision. In addition, the Italian manufacturer of the bike Wilier Triestina announced legal action against the rider, since the company's reputation had been damaged because of her actions.

Before the hearing by the Disciplinary Commission of the UCI World Cycling Federation, Femke Van Den Driessche announced her resignation from competitive cycling in mid-March 2016: "After consulting with my lawyers and my family, I have decided not to continue fighting against a possible ban."

On April 26, 2016, the UCI announced that Femke Van Den Driessche would be banned for six years with retroactive effect from October 15, 2015. In addition, she lost the European Championship title from 2015 and her Belgian championship title from 2016 and had to pay a fine of 20,000 CHF (18,000 euros). In addition, it had to return the prices associated with the titles.

successes

Cyclo-cross racing

2011

• Belgian junior champion

2015

• European Champion (U23) (title revoked)

2016

• Belgian Champion (U23) (title revoked)

Mountain bike

2013

• Belgian Junior Champion - Cross Country

Web links

• Femke Van Den Driessche in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Femke Van Den Driessche in the ProCyclingStats.com database

Individual evidence

1. ^ Case of motor doping: Manipulated bike at Cross World Championship. In: sueddeutsche.de =. January 31, 2016, accessed August 28, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Van den Driessche: It wasn't my bike. In: radsport-news.com. January 31, 2016, accessed January 31, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Michael Faiß: Femke van den Driessche case: Alleged owner of the 'e-bike' turned up. In: velomotion.de. February 2, 2016, accessed February 3, 2016 . 
4. ^ UCI introduces new sanctions against motorized doping. cyclingnews.com, April 29, 2015, accessed April 29, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Cycling Regulations, Part 12, Discipline and Procedures. (PDF) Rule 12.1.013. uci.ch, January 30, 2016, accessed on May 25, 2016 (English). 
6. ↑ Wilier Triestina threatens legal action over motorized cross bike. In: Cyclingweekly. February 1, 2016, accessed February 1, 2016 . 
7. ↑ E-doping: Van den Driessche resigns. In: RennRad. March 15, 2016, accessed March 15, 2016 . 
8. ↑ UCI shorst 'motormeisje' Van den Driessche zes jaar. In: NOS. April 26, 2016, accessed April 26, 2016 (Dutch).