Vingegaard assists UCI (despite use at Visma | Lease a Bike) with statement on carbon monoxide

Jonas Vingegaard has a distinct opinion on the discussion of carbon monoxide doping. In an interview with Le Monde, the Danish star of Visma | Lease a Bike calls for its immediate prohibition.

Who says Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard says doping questions. The great rivals in cycling today are pretty much bombarded after every race with questions about clean cycling, testing, new drugs, and so on. No journalist asks it directly, but many of them clearly find the dominance of the two only suspicious.

And so (again) from the French corner came a question about performance-enhancing drugs in cycling, this time for Vingegaard. What does the two-time Tour winner think about using carbon monoxide in cycling? Inhaling this gas has not yet been proven to improve performance, but it is hazardous, according to experts, when used incorrectly.

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Jonas Vingegaard

Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike also use carbon monoxide

The UCI already called for a ban on carbon monoxide (CO) for medical use in an official press release. "The UCI considers that these health side effects, and the complete lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of repeated inhalation of carbon monoxide, justify a ban on the use of this gas due to medical reasons"

Vingegaard holds the same opinion. He even actively urges the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to take action even though Visma | Lease a Bike uses it. "My team uses carbon monoxide to calculate blood volume and hemoglobin mass. We inhale the carbon monoxide for the first time before taking altitude training. At the end, we repeat it to calculate our maximum oxygen uptake capacity."

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Visma | Lease a Bike

Vingegaard urges WADA to intervene

These words match those Vingegaard had already uttered at the Tour de France. There, he showed he was unaware of any wrongdoing. 'I have heard that if you misuse it, you can use it as a replacement for altitude training. If you use it like that, there may be health risks involved. But that's not how we use it.

Still, Vingegaard is okay with not having to inhale gas anymore. He says it's not because of Visma | Lease a Bike but because other teams misuse it. "Some teams regularly inhale low doses of carbon monoxide, which provides significant performance gains for their riders. This is not fair, and WADA should ban it."

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Vingegaard in the Tour de France

Ketone discussion continues

In addition to carbon monoxide, there is, of course, the discussion surrounding ketones, which are also massively used in the cycling peloton. So far, there is no ban on the (according to many people, bad-tasting) drink, which is often consumed after physical exertion. Visma | Lease a Bike, and Alpecin-Deceuninck even publicly uses ketones through Ketone-IQ.

Nevertheless, the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC) has been a firm opponent of ketone use for many years. "Members were concerned about the health risks and the potential for performance enhancement, but the UCI does not expect to present results before the end of 2025. We cannot accept that, with the health and credibility of our sport at stake," the organization communicated in November.

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