Following recent tests by the UCI for motors on the bikes of some of the stars of the Giro like Contador, Hesjedal and Gilbert, Greg LeMond has suggested they use a heat-detecting gun to find out if the riders have motors in their bikes as it is easier than having to take riders bikes apart in the middle of stage races.

“I know that motors exist, I’ve ridden a bike with one and I’ve met the inventor and talked about it. If people think they don’t exist, they’re fooling themselves, so I think it’s a justified suspicion. I believe it’s also been used in the peloton. It seems too incredible that someone would do it, but I know it’s real,” he said to Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport after stage 19 of the Giro.

“To make sure it doesn’t happen, I don’t think there should be bike changes in races. Period. Unless you have a real mechanical problem. It’d take away the suspicion. I just hope the UCI is doing the right thing. Fifty or 100 watts is nothing for a motor. If you’re say riding at 400 watts on a climb, an extra 50 watts means minutes on a climb and there’s no real weight penalty.”

“It’s simple to check for, much easier than doping, but not by looking down the tube. You need a thermal heat gun, you can use it in the race. It can see from metres away if there a difference in the heat in the bottom bracket. I’d recommend that to the UCI.”

LeMond will be able to experience this much more first hand at races as he has attended the Giro and will be at the Tour de France as a Eurosport ambassador.