Vingegaard Urges WADA to Prohibit Controversial Performance-Enhancing Technique

Jonas Vingegaard, former Tour de France winner, is pushing for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ban the carbon monoxide rebreathing method, alleging its misuse by some cycling teams for performance enhancement.

Former Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard is urging the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ban the contentious carbon monoxide rebreathing method, which he believes is being misused by numerous cycling teams. This technique allows teams to accurately measure crucial blood values, such as haemoglobin, which facilitates oxygen movement in red blood cells.

Several professional cycling teams have confirmed their use of CO rebreathers to monitor riders' progress during altitude training camps, where red blood cell production is boosted. The International Cycling Federation (UCI) considers this method acceptable, but Vingegaard is pushing for WADA to intervene and prohibit its use.

Vingegaard's own team utilizes carbon monoxide to measure blood volume and haemoglobin levels. As he explained to French newspaper Le Monde, “We inhale carbon monoxide once before altitude training camp and repeat the process at the end to calculate our maximum oxygen absorption capacity.” However, Vingegaard alleges that some teams exploit this method by regularly inhaling small doses of carbon monoxide, resulting in significant performance enhancements. He emphasized, “It's not fair, and WADA should ban it.”

Although Vingegaard did not specify which teams he suspects of misusing the method, it was revealed by media outlet Escape Collective that several teams and riders employed this technique during the Tour de France.