"It's rare for a great rider of his level to speak out and take a stand" - Marc Madiot praises Jonas Vingegaard after calls for Carbon Monoxide ban
Cycling
The topic of Carbon Monoxide and its potential misuse in the peloton continues to cause discussion. One of the most outspoken opponents of the controversial method has long been Groupama - FDJ boss Marc Madiot and the Frenchman has been left delighted by Jonas Vingegaard's recent comments calling for a ban.
"Some teams divert its use by regularly inhaling low doses of carbon monoxide, which causes a significant gain in performance of their riders. This is not fair and the World Anti-Doping Agency should ban it," Vingegaard reportedly told Le Monde recently, although Team Visma | Lease a Bike themselves has since questioned the quotes, calling them "clearly a misinterpretation and confusion between languages," to Ekstra Bladet.
Nevertheless, Groupama - FDJ boss Madiot remains to delighted to see the topic thrust into the spotlight once again by such a prominent pro rider as the two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard. "That's very good, I would like to congratulate him because it's rare for a great rider of his level to speak out and take a stand, especially in this area," the experienced French team boss says in conversation with Eurosport.fr. "And the fact that he spoke out, I think that's good. Whether he used it or not, that's not the problem. What matters is that people don't use it anymore or don't use it. I appreciated his speech."
"It must be banned, I have been saying so for several months. I sent a message to David Lappartient who had read it at the World Tour general meeting. Let's be smart: if we all say together, we'll stop this thing, that's it, period," Madiot continues, certain that the UCI will indeed move to ban the usage of carbon monoxide. "Lappartient will put it in the regulations to prohibit it. He will put it in the regulations: it is forbidden to use it. There is a general assembly of the UCI in Liévin, we will talk about it. Control is something else. But first of all, it is forbidden, officially forbidden. Then there is the ITA (International Testing Agency, ed.) which conducts investigations and goes into the field. So they can also intervene, but David Lappartient told me that he was going to ban it."
"I'm sorry but you don't make cyclists breathe gas, it's nonsense. No and no, that's it. Imagine if we let this kind of thing happen. The public sees the guys on TV and in the evening they know that they're going to breathe carbon monoxide, it's a lethal gas!" Madiot concludes. "What message are we sending? That's why I'm telling you that what Vingegaard did was right. I prefer Vingegaard speaking out to the silence of others."
🚴😤 | Volgens FDJ-ploegbaas Marc Madiot gaat de UCI het gebruik van Carbon Monoxide binnenkort verbieden: "Het is onzin om renners gas in te laten ademen." ❌❌❌
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) January 23, 2025
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Jonas (probably instructed by Visma) low-key seeding a media cycle about UAE’s carbon monoxide abuse because he knows he’s not at Tadej’s level anymore.
That was my first thought. I hope I'm wrong. It would be sad if a great champion behaves like a sore loser. In 2023, after his incredible tt, I never heard Tadej raise suspicions against him (the internet was full of accusations). Remember that in a few months, Jonas, from being very bad in TT (his results were around 100) became a super phenomenon, giving 3 minutes to Wout and 2 minutes to Tadej.
I thought Visma was still using this technique but were about to stop using it soon. Anyway, it will probably be banned soon enough.
Really? Unfair? come on "Braveheart" Jonas: Visma is the first in search, develop and USE these kind of new improvements. The rest of the teams imitate them. I hope it was a misunderstanding, otherwise.. no full-gas, full-hypocrisy.
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- I haven't been watching cycling for very long but I feel like we are in a golden age with Pogacar, Vingegaard, Roglic, Evenepoel, Pidcock, van der Poel, van Aert (I'm definitely forgetting a lot of other riders)... My point is, we should be celebrating their differences because that is what makes it a golden age for me.Pogboom11-03-2025
- I know I just said I wouldn't feed the troll, but Tadej used to race cross, and is a former national champion. He's not a "crosser" but to say he'll never do CX is inaccurate (again)Evan10-03-2025
- you're saying this in a comment thread on an article specifically about Tadej and Jonas? The internet is about connection. People can connect without having to go off topic to argue or arguing for its own sake. The internet can indeed be a positive place where people agree on things. For the sake of dissent, you put forward very odd views that are poorly thought out. That's what trolling is. I'll stop feeding the trollEvan10-03-2025
- Any two matching riders are a spectacle in any race. Do we have to continually state the obvious by always referring to the same two, even if many strongly disagree and argue they are evenly matched in the races where they meet? Isn’t the point of the internet to enhance and further thought and opinion as opposed to agreeing on a very narrow consensus that kilks conversation?Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- As has been said many times, Jonas is a diesel, never going to focus on one day races, Tadej is a roadie, never going to do MTB or CX.Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- Unless you can ignore the winner to enjoy the rest if the race, hence the comment about using imagination. Easier to do during a race than retrospectively when you’ve discovered someone gets their titles, medals, prize money cancelled and disqualified. Of course, it helps if camera crew look for the action, some channels do better at that than others.Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- I think an article dedicated to Emielien Jeannière is also in order today, amazing performance. Let’s not forget that almost a decade ago he was also 2nd in an important race beating a certain TP.Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- More or less how I see it too. Jonas himself warned publicly 6 months in advance. We were warned of the slippery dry gravel BEFORE the race do riders had no excuse not to take it into account. It’s not for nothing Moho warned Tadej not to follow him downhill in MSR, not every rider has the same skills and each has to know his limit. Tadej was too focused on riding with Pidcock to check his limits. After that, yes of course in a peleton if one goes down (for whatever reason) in a critical place, they’re likely to take others within their limits with them, can’t do very much about that without destroying the sport, that will always be a risk to live with. It’s the same as with development in cars, drivers are made to feel safer so take more risk and become more dangerous to others.Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- I agree with everything he says about rider safety related to bikes and the riders themselves. Every bike company talks abou how many watts have saved off a 40k. Clothing is more aero. Materials are refined and made lighter than ever. All of which means more crashes. And then look at Jonas' tragic crash from a year ago. A bummer of a situation, yes - but Jumbo allegedly emailed the organizer about the bad roads. The organizer keeps them in. So Jonas knew there were bad roads, the organizer keeps them in - but who forced Jonas to go so fast or ride that corner in a group situation? back down, take a different line. races are rarely won on the downhills, they're lost. the organizers can only do so much. the tour of poland situation or leaving cars on the road IS bad. but rough roads? the riders need to own this too. As Tadej said, I was going to fast, and I crashed.mij10-03-2025
- Naaahhh... You are fantastic at all types of cycling, only need time to practice. I have seen videos of Tadej when was a child performing as a circus tightrope walker on a unicycle.
maria2024202410-03-2025