The Belgian cyclist caught during competition in January with an electric motor hidden in one of her bikes has been banned for six years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,603.69), the sport's governing body said on Tuesday.
Femke Van den Driessche, 19, was found guilty of violating competition rules through "technological fraud" during the 2016 Cyclo-cross world championships, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said earlier.
It is the first time an elite rider has been punished for so-called "mechanical doping". A UCI statement on Tuesday described the ban as "a major victory" in the fight against a form of cheating seen as a growing problem in the sport.
"The bike concerned was scanned using the new ma
