UCI hires Peraud to oversee motorized cheating efforts

Newly elected UCI president David Lappartient is delivering on his promise to put more resources into allegations that technological fraud is rife within the pro peloton.

On Friday, the UCI announced that former pro Jean-Christophe Péraud will join the international governing body as “manager of equipment” and will lead the “fight against technological fraud.”

Péraud, who retired after the 2016 season, will spearhead the UCI’s effort to monitor and regulate “approval procedures for equipment and clothing used in competition, the management of projects concerning the use of new technologies in cycling events, and the fight against technological fraud,” a press release said.

“The UCI already has an effective policy concerning equipment and the fight against technological fraud, but I am convinced that this can still be improved,” Péraud said. “That is what I will now be working on.”

The 40-year-old Péraud is uniquely qualified for such a task. He was a top-level pro, who raced as a professional road pro from 2010-2016 after racing as a mountain biker, including second overall at the 2014 Tour de France. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering as well as a diploma from France’s National Institute of Applied Sciences (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées – INSA) in Lyon, France.

The UCI is tapping Péraud to be on the front lines of a ramped up effort to target potential technological abuses across the professional peloton.

UCI president Lappartient said details of a new “plan of action” will be outlined in January.

“This problematic issue is one of my highest priorities,” Lappartient said. “The credibility of sports results hangs on it.”

Lappartient put the threat of technological fraud, also called “motor doping,” at the center of his successful presidential campaign to oust Brian Cookson in September.