The International Cycling Association denied repeated breathing, but can still be used for test purposes.
International Cycling Association UCI denied At the beginning of February, the carbon monoxide, or the wedding, repetitive breathing. The ban entered into force on 10 February.
Hard rose to headlines in the summer during the French round -the -fan ride when the cycling site Escape Collective claimedthat many top stables are breathing toxic gas to improve their performance at high -end camps.
For example, the superstars of the species, Team Visman Jonas Vingegaard and UAE’s Tadej pogacar They then admitted the inhalation of carbon monoxide, but only for test purposes.
According to UCI, carbon monoxide has long been used in sports medicine, for example, to measure blood hemoglobin in the sustainability and high-level training. The substance is inhaled, for example on such With the device at the beginning and finally.
– We use the carbon monoxide to measure the hemoglobin level of the blood. There’s nothing suspicious about it, vingegaard quoth.
– We do not breathe any day in car exhaust pipes. It’s just a simple test that tells you how well your body responds to high -place training, Pogacar quoth.
Vingegaard, however addedthat some of the top cyclists regularly breathe small amounts of carbon monoxide, which, according to Danish, significantly improves performance.
“It’s wrong and the world’s anti -doping agency (Wada) should ban it,” Vingegaard said in January.
Vingegaard’s stable Visma rolled The interview afterwards and claimed that the accusation was due to a translation error.
UCI has asked Wada to take a stand on the repeated use of carbon monoxide. Wada has not yet denied it but told to investigate the matter.
High risks
Medical Expert of the Finnish Sports Ethics Center Pekka Rauhala says that breathing a carbon monoxide can bring athletic benefits. He does not comment on the greatest benefit.
– When you breathe the carbon monoxide, it binds to red blood cells. The body senses it as a situation like being in high air, ie it stimulates the body’s own EPO production and hemoglobin rises. The risk and problem here is that if the carbon monoxide gets too much, it is poisoning, says Rauhala.
Hemoglobin carries oxygen with red blood cells. High hemoglobin improves oxygen uptake, which is an important feature, especially in endurance sports.
In its decision, the International Cycling Association emphasized that repetitive breathing of carbon monoxide can cause sudden or long -term health problems such as headaches, morbid sleepiness, nausea, dizziness and confusion.
“These symptoms can develop at any point in arrhythmias, various scenes, stroke and loss of consciousness,” the UCI decision recalls.
According to the UCI decision, the carbon monoxide may continue to be breathed in the presence of hemoglobin in the presence of a medical professional. The test can be done twice and should be two weeks between them.
Sources: AP, BBC, BicyCling.com, Canadian Cycling Magazine, Cycling News, Escape Collective, UCI, The Guardian.