Carbon monoxide in the sights of the International Cyclist Union. The use by part of the peloton of this gas, known to be the main cause of accidental poisoning in a domestic environment, was revealed during the Tour de France by the specialist site Escape collective. Today, the UCI is asking the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to take a clear position on this issue.
“The UCI clearly asks teams and riders not to resort to repeated inhalation of CO. Only the medical use of a single inhalation of CO in a controlled medical environment could be acceptable. The UCI also officially asks the World Anti-Doping Agency to take a position on the use of this method by athletes,” the body said in a press release.
Pogacar and Vingegaard have admitted to using this technique
Among these teams using it are Israel PT as well as Tadej Pogacar’s UAE team and Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma. Questioned during the Tour de France by the press, the two champions admitted to using the technique to measure the benefits of training at altitude.
“It’s a device to test how your body reacts to altitude,” Pogacar explained. We blow into a balloon for one minute for a test that we must do two weeks apart. I only did the first part because for the second, the girl who was supposed to do it never came. It’s not like we breathe it every day. »
Not illegal, but…
In itself, use of this protocol is not illegal. But, in the event of repeated use, its use could be diverted to create artificial hypoxia by artificially creating the effects of effort at altitude.
The Movement for Credible Cycling, which brings together several teams defending the objective of clean cycling, 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.
Swiss
