In 2024, the largest information on the earth of biking doping seemed like an April Idiot’s joke. Professional riders have been apparently inhaling carbon monoxide to spice up efficiency. That sounds preposterous till you understand that carbon monoxide rebreathing can be utilized as a measurement device to measure a rider’s hemoglobin (Hb) mass and blood quantity.
However as first reported by The Escape Collective, it’s attainable to misuse this take a look at gear to go from merely testing your Hb mass to enhancing it with extended inhalation. TrainingPeaks has an in-depth article on the science behind CO Hb testing right here, however the wanting it goes like this:
“First, an athlete usually does a mix of breath and blood checks to measure their baseline carbon monoxide (CO) ranges earlier than the precise take a look at is carried out.
The take a look at itself entails the athlete inhaling a small quantity of carbon monoxide diluted with oxygen. This combination is inhaled and exhaled by way of a closed circuit for 2 minutes. The carbon monoxide the athlete inhales then binds to the hemoglobin in purple blood cells to kind carboxyhemoglobin.
After two minutes, the quantity of carboxyhemoglobin that continues to be within the breath and blood is re-measured and in comparison with the baseline ranges measured at the beginning of the take a look at. The outcomes are then used to calculate the athlete’s complete hemoglobin mass.”
That testing can then be used to evaluate an athlete’s altitude adaptation, but it surely is also abused if an athlete have been to “ceaselessly inhale the tracer to simulate hypoxia and immediate a rise in hemoglobin and different efficiency metrics.”
That’s the place the UCI is trying to attract the road with their newest ban. Calling it “a ban on repeated inhalation of carbon monoxide,” the UCI will nonetheless allow one CO inhalation to measure complete Hb mass. Or two, apparently, stating “The inhalation of CO will stay authorised inside a medical facility and beneath the duty of a medical skilled skilled within the manipulation of this fuel for medical causes and consistent with the next restrictions: just one CO inhalation to measure complete Hb mass shall be permitted. A second CO inhalation will solely be authorised two weeks after the preliminary Hb measurement.”
For extra particulars, take a look at the complete press launch under which additionally features a modification for UCI WorldTeams to stay eligible.
The Administration Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) met in Arras (France) on 31 January and 1st February, alongside the 2025 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, that are being held in Liévin from 31 January to 2 February.
To guard the well being of riders, the UCI Administration Committee accepted a ban on the repeated inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO). The ban will come into drive on 10 February 2025.
As a reminder, CO is usually utilized in sports activities medication to measure complete haemoglobin (Hb) mass and blood quantity, particularly to look at the results of endurance coaching and altitude publicity on oxygen carrying capability. Nonetheless, its repeated inhalation can lead to acute and power well being issues, for instance complications, lethargy, nausea, dizziness, and confusion. Such signs can worsen at any time and become issues with coronary heart rhythm, seizures, paralysis, and lack of consciousness.
The brand new regulation forbids the possession, exterior a medical facility, of commercially obtainable CO re-breathing programs related to oxygen and CO cylinders. This ban applies to all licence-holders, groups and/or our bodies topic to the UCI Rules and to anybody else who may possess such gear on behalf of riders or groups.
The inhalation of CO will stay authorised inside a medical facility and beneath the duty of a medical skilled skilled within the manipulation of this fuel for medical causes and consistent with the next restrictions: just one CO inhalation to measure complete Hb mass shall be permitted. A second CO inhalation will solely be authorised two weeks after the preliminary Hb measurement.
For riders in UCI WorldTeams, UCI Ladies’s WorldTeams and UCI ProTeams, any CO inhalation for the aim of figuring out complete Hb mass should be recorded within the medical file established for every athlete, in compliance with Articles 13.3.020 to 13.3.026 of the UCI Medical Guidelines.
The UCI’s ban is unbiased of the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-doping Rules, nonetheless the UCI has formally requested the World Anti-Doping Company (WADA) to take place on the repeated use of CO out and in of competitors.
With the intention of making certain the participation of the world’s greatest groups in all essentially the most prestigious street occasions, the UCI Administration Committee accepted a modification to the participation guidelines for the UCI WorldTour and UCI Ladies’s WorldTourfrom 2026.
Beneath this new rule, it will likely be necessary for all UCI WorldTeams to compete within the three Grand Excursions (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta Ciclista a España) and the 5 Monuments (Milano-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia). From the remaining occasions on the UCI WorldTour calendar, UCI WorldTeams will be capable of select one occasion wherein they don’t compete. Not more than 4 UCI WorldTeams could also be absent from the identical occasion, and groups won’t be permitted to be absent from the identical occasion greater than as soon as in the course of the three-year registration cycle (2026-2028). Any spot at a UCI WorldTour occasion left vacant by one of many 18 UCI WorldTeams shall be supplied by invitation to a UCI ProTeam.
The identical participation guidelines will apply to UCI Ladies’s WorldTeams within the UCI Ladies’s WorldTour, however just for the next occasions: the Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es, Giro d’Italia Ladies and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Relating to different disciplines, the UCI Administration Committee accepted the award of the 2025 UCI Indoor Biking World Championships to Göppingen, Germany, from 7 to 9 Novembers 2025.
Members of the UCI Administration Committee additionally accepted the next calendars:
- 2025-2026 UCI Cyclo-cross Worldwide Calendar, together with the 2025-2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup;
- 2025 Hero UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup, a brand new unbiased collection for the mountain bike marathon speciality which can now not be a part of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Collection;
- 2025 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by citymountainbike.com.
These calendars shall be obtainable on the devoted part of the UCI web site from 3 February.
Lastly, the Administration Committee expressed its appreciation of the superb work carried out in all areas of the world by biking’s 5 Continental Confederations, which maintain their elective Congresses this 12 months. Congratulations went to Tony Mitchell who, following the Congress of the Oceania Biking Confederation in January, embarks on one other four-year time period as its President. The Biking Confederations of Africa, America, Asia, and Europe will elect their Presidents and Administration Committee members at their respective Congresses going down between now and the start of March.
UCI President David Lappartient mentioned: “The UCI takes a daring and vital stance by banning the repeated use of carbon monoxide inhalation on medical grounds. Our precedence is to guard the well being and security of our athletes and at this time’s choice is one other vital step on this course.
“By modifying the participation guidelines for the UCI WorldTour and UCI Ladies’s WorldTour, organisers, riders and followers can ensure that all occasions in these two main collection for males’s and girls’s skilled street biking will characteristic the most effective groups on the earth.
“Lastly, I wish to sincerely thank and congratulate the 5 Continental Confederations that work tirelessly to progress our sport in all corners of the world. This 12 months marks the beginning of a brand new four-year time period for the Course of every Confederation, and I stay up for persevering with our glorious and shut collaboration.”
The subsequent assembly of the UCI Administration Committee will happen in Arzon, France, from 10 to 11 June 2025.