The vast majority of French sports fans believe the success of Britain's cyclists at the Olympics has been 'tainted by cheating,' a poll has revealed.

They suggest that anything from drugs to illegal technology may have been used by Team GB as it won nine medals in the Velodrome, including seven golds.

By contrast, the French have won three silver medals, finishing second to the British in two events.

A rolling internet poll for leading sports magazine L'Equipe currently asks: 'Do you think the performance of British cyclists at the London Games has been tainted by cheating?'

By late afternoon today, a resounding 70 percent of readers had answered 'Yes' with just 24 per cent replying 'No' and the rest undecided.

It follows the French saying Team GB’s riders, including Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott, were hiding their ‘magic wheels’ after races.

France team director Isabelle Gautheron said: ‘We are asking a lot of questions: how have they gained so many tenths of seconds?’

‘Have they found a new training process based on certain energy pathways? I am not talking about any illicit product, because anti-doping tests are so strong.

‘We are looking a lot at the kit they use. They hide their wheels a lot. The ones for the bikes they race on are put in wheel covers at the finish.’

There have also been barely disguised insinuations about the British using a ‘special preparation’ towards their success, although the French have stopped short of directly accusing their rivals of using drugs.

L’Equipe defended their controversial poll, saying that many readers had noted ‘a certain chauvinism and lack of fair play’ among the British during London 2012.

It suggested that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and his BskyB ‘galaxy’ had been able to throw thousands of pounds into British cycling, giving it an unfair advantage against a country which traditionally sees itself as the home of cycling.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)