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The MPCC welcomes the fact that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has reacted to the alarming issue of carbon monoxide inhalation by certain riders, in agreement with their respective teams. However, the movement deplores the slowness of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s procedures, even when athletes’ health is at stake.
Source: Press Release
In a press release published on Tuesday, the UCI “clearly asks teams and riders not to resort to repeated carbon monoxide inhalation,” while making an official request to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) “to take a stand on the use of this method by athletes.”
Less than a month ago, at its General Assembly, the MPCC alerted the public and the authorities of our sport to its concern regarding this recently widespread use of a potentially lethal gas by inhalation. The MPCC also sent a letter to WADA dated November 18, 2024, which has so far gone unanswered. Without waiting, the MPCC “strongly advised against the use of this technique, pending its prohibition.” Regarding the World Anti-Doping Agency, the MPCC also regrets that its letter of June 12, 2024, alerting to the use of Tapentadol (an analgesic reputed to be more powerful than Tramadol), which it is requesting to be banned, has not prompted a clear stance from the international body either, even though this drug has since been included in its “monitoring program.”
The MPCC reminds all concerned of two regrettable precedents:
⁃ It took more than 10 years to convince WADA to include Tramadol on the list of prohibited substances, even though the team doctors of MPCC member teams had committed not to prescribe it to their riders as early as 2013.
⁃ Since 2019, the MPCC has been calling for a clear position from WADA on the effects of ketones in sports practice. Five years later, we are still at the same point, as WADA refuses to comment until a scientific study is made public. This scientific publication, also requested by the UCI, is not expected before the end of next year, at best.
The MPCC Board of Directors believes that in the face of such reckless behavior as the repeated use of a toxic gas or a powerful opioid, WADA should rely on an emergency procedure to enforce the precautionary principle when a potentially dangerous practice or drug appears.
The MPCC also alerts practitioners to the fact that a substance not on the list of prohibited products is not a sufficient reason for riders and their teams to authorize its use.
More generally, the MPCC, deploring the development of these “grey area” drug practices, encourages all governing bodies to create a favorable framework to limit the medicalization of our sport to its strict minimum.
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