UCI & carbon monoxide rebreathing: Why are they trying to ban it?

The maker of the device being used by teams admits enhancing performance could be possible, albeit easily detectable.

“When you inhale carbon monoxide you reduce [the] oxygen content of blood, so all of a sudden the body [behaves] as if you are at high altitude,” says Carsten Lundby co-founder of rebreathing equipment manufacturer Detalo Health.

“If you inhale it once, it’s like being exposed to high altitude for a couple of hours – this will do nothing to your performance.

“If you inhale carbon monoxide four or five times a day over the ratio of a month, you will get more haemoglobin, but this would be a misuse of our device – this is not what it was intended for,” adds Lundby, who is also professor at the University of Lillehammer in Norway.

“And due to real-time surveillance of each machine, we can easily identify whether our devices would be misused.”

The UCI is not necessarily looking to snuff out cheating with a ban. It says it is seeking the ruling on grounds of safety, saying the practice still could be used in a “medical setting”.

But Lundby and teams are confused.

“At first I was happy to see the UCI taking a stance but then a bit baffled on the wording that these be allowed to be performed in a medical setting. I’m not aware of any medical settings where this has been done,” says Lundby.

“Colleagues and myself have been in touch with the UCI stating that 99% of measurements are not performed in a medical environment but by medical-trained personnel. I’m sure the wording will be changed.”