A 12 months after controversy erupted over using carbon monoxide rebreathers by a few of skilled biking’s prime groups, the World Anti-Doping Company (WADA) has added using the gasoline as a performance-enhancing technique to its Prohibited Record, beginning in 2026.
“The non-diagnostic use of carbon monoxide (CO) was added to the Prohibited Strategies as a brand new part, M 1.4,” WADA said in its abstract of the most important modifications to the Prohibited Record. “It may possibly improve erythropoiesis underneath sure situations.”
The controversy started with a report by the Escape Collective web site, which said that UAE Workforce Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Israel-Premier Tech allegedly used carbon monoxide throughout the 2024 Tour de France.
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The gasoline, which is lethal when inhaled in adequate doses, can simulate the kind of hypoxia one would get when at excessive altitudes. Hypoxia, an absence of oxygen, stimulates the physique to supply extra oxygen-carrying crimson blood cells, and altitude camps have grow to be the usual for skilled cyclists wanting to attain peak efficiency.
Carbon monoxide may also be used as a diagnostic technique, which the 2026 WADA code will nonetheless enable. Groups said they used the gasoline to measure blood quantity.
“I perceive if it is misused, however I by no means knew that it may very well be misused,” Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard mentioned on the crew’s press convention final November. “I feel I mentioned earlier than that we solely used it to check if the altitude camps are working or not.”
The UCI then moved to request that WADA explicitly ban carbon monoxide rebreathers as a efficiency enhancement.
“The UCI clearly asks groups and riders to not use repeated CO inhalation. Solely the medical use of a single inhalation of CO in a managed medical surroundings may very well be acceptable,” the UCI press launch said final 12 months.
“The UCI can be formally requesting the World Anti-Doping Company (WADA) to take a place on using this technique by athletes.”
The Escape Collective report concluded that there was “no laborious proof that any WorldTeams are at the moment utilizing CO inhalation for efficiency positive factors”, however the suspicion that the story raised led UAE Workforce Emirates to announce they’d stop utilizing the gasoline as a diagnostic technique in December.
The current WADA rationalization makes clear that utilizing the gasoline as a diagnostic measure continues to be allowed.
“Carbon monoxide for diagnostic functions, resembling whole haemoglobin mass measurements or the willpower of pulmonary diffusion capability, isn’t prohibited. The present wording was chosen to distinguish between illicit use and the consumption ensuing from pure combustion processes (e.g. smoking), the surroundings (e. g. exhaust gases) or diagnostic procedures.”
