Former professional rider, Portuguese Vitor dos Santos Mota, who is licensed in Velizy, has been suspended after refusing to have his bike checked by inspectors.
Amateur cycling has been shaken by a new case of mechanical doping. Winner of a race in Réau in Seine-et-Marne, Portuguese rider Vitor Dos Santos Mota was stopped as a precaution by the Federation for Sport and Gymnastics for Work (FSGT) after he evaded control of his bike at the end. race. At the age of 49, Vitor dos Santos Mota spent four seasons with the professionals in Portugal in the early 1990s, notably competing in the Algarve Tour.
On 4 June, the Portuguese jockey saw marshals coming to him after the Réau race to inspect his mount. without result. Despite the insistence of the inspectors, the 49-year-old refused to take his bike from his truck, preferring to tear up his FSGT license. “Sprinter Vitor dos Santos Mota is suspected of having used, during several events, a suspicious bike equipped with electric assist, which is strictly prohibited during competitions,” said the regional committee of the FSGT in a press release, adding that it had taken over its national office for “Refusal to comply and mechanical stimulants”.
The former professional runner defended himself vigorously in the ranks Parisian. “I fell into a trap, there are many jealous people and some accuse me of having a motor in the bike for months, but it is completely wrong, as the Portuguese citizen from the Coimbra region confirms. For three seasons, I have been harassed, including in the race, ” He confided, explaining that he was threatened during the race after he had already been in a violent altercation at another event last year.
threatened by other runners
“Many riders tried to knock me down, cut me off, and two laps from the finish I started on my own and won, He completed. After finishing, I was about to put my chest back on the platform when I was attacked by a group of runners. they told me: You have a motor, show us your bike! I agreed to do so when asked by a commissioner, but the group of riders became more and more threatening. they shouted: We’ll break it down for you, your bike! » And the veteran adds: “That’s when I refused, and when the commissioner told me that my license would be taken away from me, I tore it myself and threw it on the ground …”
However, Vitor dos Santos Mota says he is against Any form of doping, but not under these circumstances. He is now ready to evaluate his bike. Total distraught within his club, EC Velizy, who announced their exclusion as a precautionary measure. “He’s a lonely runner, a free electron who never merged with us,” said its president, Jean-Michel Richefort
