Cycling. “We are in danger”, Marc Madiot’s cry of alarm on the use of carbon monoxide

Marc Madiot, manager of Groupama-FDJ, is categorical: “We, the team bosses, must commit in writing and on our honor not to use this method, whether it is good or bad, whether it brings a benefit or not. Otherwise, it will take another five or ten years to resolve the story. » The method in question: the use of carbon monoxide (CO) in the peloton, a practice revealed by Escape Collective last July, during the Tour de France. “We are in danger”, he spoke at the microphone of Grandes Gueules du Sport this Sunday 1^is December on RMC.

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According to Escape Collective, three teams use or have used this equipment: Visma-Lease a bike, UAE team Emirates and Israel-Premier Tech. “I'm saying that from three teams, we will soon go to five, six, seven, ten, fifteen… up to 90% of the peloton. I don't intend to use it at all. This is the message I sent to the president of the UCI (David Lappartient) », warned Marc Madiot. No one will use this device in my team. I commit to it, even if the other teams do it. I invite my colleagues to have the same attitude. If the top 25 team bosses in the world say that this method should not be used, then this method will not be used. »

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“There is no general consensus on whether CO can have a performance-enhancing effect, and there is no sufficiently robust data to support this proposition,” the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) indicated this week in a press release sent to Reuters. A few days earlier, the International Cycling Union (UCI) had called on WADA to rule on the issue.