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PARIS — Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is calling for a ban of the controversial carbon monoxide rebreathing method used by athletes to measure their performances. Speaking to Le Monde newspaper, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider says in an interview that his team makes a proper use of the method, but that some riders misuse it to artificially increase performances. The use of carbon monoxide was put under the spotlight during the Tour de France last year when the cycling website Escape Collective reported that riders from multiple teams inhaled the toxic gas to optimize altitude training. It can be used as a tracer to monitor the diffusion of oxygen in the lungs or the total mass of hemoglobin, a key blood value for racers.
