Madiot asks team bosses to commit not to use carbon monoxide

While the use of carbon monoxide in Cycling is widely debated, the manager of Groupama-FDJ, Marc Madiot, wants the team bosses to meet to mark their opposition to this method. He sent a very strong message on RMC.

“We’re in danger.” In the Big Mouths of Sport this Sunday on RMC, Marc Madiot raised a cry of alarm and launched an appeal to the world of cycling. While the use of carbon monoxide in the peloton raises major questions about the health of athletes and sporting ethics, the manager of Groupama-FDJ sent a strong message. He wants all team bosses to make a clear commitment not to use carbon monoxide.

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“Otherwise, it will take another five or ten years to resolve the matter. Today we are reporting three teams which use or have used this equipment. I am saying that from three teams, we will soon move on to five, six, seven, ten, fifteen… up to 90% of the peloton I have no intention of using it at all. This is the message I sent to the president of the UCI (. David Lappartient). There are around twenty teams doing 100% of the big world calendar. We, the team bosses, must commit in writing and on our honor not to use this method, whether good or bad. whether it brings a benefit or not,” he explained.

“No one will use this device in my team”

The International Cycling Union (UCI) on Tuesday asked the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to “take a position” on carbon monoxide inhalation, a now legal but controversial technique used by riders such as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. The use of this potentially lethal gas by at least three teams was revealed last summer during the Tour de France by the specialist site Escape collective. Among these formations are Israel PT as well as Pogacar's UAE Emirates and Vingegaard's Visma. In itself, use of this protocol is not currently illegal. But, in the event of repeated use, specialists believe that its use could be diverted to create artificial hypoxia by artificially creating the effects of effort at altitude.

“We must commit not to buy this equipment and not to use it. I am ready to sign. I say it, no one will use this equipment in my team. I commit to it, even if the others teams do it. I invite my colleagues to have the same attitude. If the 25 main team leaders in the world say that we should not use this method, then this method will not be used. It's still five years away and we're dead. If there was not somewhere the idea of ​​improving performance, we would not have this attitude,” Madiot explained on RMC.

“How can you be credible?”

And to clarify: “It's simple, you have to say no. It's stop! Everyone has to get involved. The next step is up to the ITA (International Testing Agency) to do the policeman and to ensure that no one uses it It's wishful thinking, but at least let's try (…) How can we be credible when attacking the coming season if we know that certain teams use it. this type of method and others no? Viewers will think: is this runner breathing carbon monoxide, is his nose in the gas stove breathing coal? We need to come together and say stop!”

An opinion shared by Jérôme Pineau, ex-professional runner and team manager, who however does not hide his skepticism regarding a global agreement on the subject. “What worries me is the riders and their staff. What will happen is that there will be deviations. Some will mess around, test the thing alone. The authorities will have to get back into action line with the very essence of our sport: physical effort and not profit. I hope that the president of the UCI has understood this well,” he commented.

The Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), which brings together several teams defending the objective of clean cycling, for its part expressed its concern at the end of October, “strongly recommending against the use of this technique… pending its ban ” in view of its “potentially fatal health risk”.