World leading teams such as Team Visma | Lease a Bike and
UAE Team Emirates - XRG were among the reported users of carbon monoxide rebreathing. Despite being confident of his own moral compass being enough to regulate potential controversies, Madiot is less sure about his rivals' teams. "If we count broadly, taking the 'World Tour' and the main 'Conti Pro', there are twenty-five of us team bosses," he notes. "Can the other twenty-four managers - and I know that there are some who say this - say the same thing?"
According to Madiot, there should be a quite simple resolution for teams, like there has been at Groupama - FDJ. "We are the employers, we can order our employees not to use carbon monoxide in any way and in any form whatsoever," he concludes firmly. "How are you going to explain to the public, on the evening of the
Tour de France stages, that there may be people who use carbon monoxide?"
As mentioned, the UCI recently took the step to move towards banning the use of carbon monoxide for rebreathing. "To protect the health of riders, the UCI Management Committee approved a ban on the repeated inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO). The ban will come into force on 10 February 2025,"
announced the sport's governing body in a press release.