A professional team is being investigated for using counterfeit bikes

The British continental category team Saint Piran has had to admit that they used generic Chinese bikes in some races during the 2022 season that did not have any type of UCI approval for use in competition, a fact that the team avoided by applying fake approval stickers to those bikes.

The Saint Piran continental category used unapproved Chinese frames in 2022

A bizarre story has emerged in recent days that affects the British continental team Saint Piran, a modest squad that is now being investigated by the UCI for using unapproved frames in competition during the 2022 season, and to do so without causing suspicion from the judges, they falsified the identifying logo that all frames that have passed the approval process established by the UCI must display.

The issue dates back to 2022 when the Saint Piran team reported the lack of safety of the bikes provided by their then sponsor Lapierre, a process that ended in the termination of sponsorship by the French company and left the team without bikes halfway through the season. Between that moment and until Trek arrived to replace them in sponsorship, the team had no better idea than to acquire a good number of generic bikes directly from China, bikes without the necessary approval from the UCI and therefore cannot be used in competition.

After the case was uncovered, Saint Piran had no choice but to admit that they used those frames and falsified the approval stickers, stating that they will accept any possible sanctions that British Cycling and the UCI may establish. Sanctions that, economically, only for the "improper use of approval labels" are set at an amount between 10,000 and 100,000 Swiss francs.

In any case, they claim that these frames met the established safety standards in addition to any UCI limitations regarding design, geometry, etc. so they defend themselves by stating that the use of these frames did not pose any danger or benefit in the competitions in which they participated with them.