Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar has dismissed inquiries about carbon monoxide rebreathers, devices reportedly used by some WorldTour teams for measuring altitude training benefits. On Friday, Cyclingnews highlighted that UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Israel-Premier Tech have been using these rebreathers, though specific riders were not named. The article confirmed that these devices are not banned by WADA.
The teams acknowledged their use of carbon monoxide rebreathers, stating they employ the technique solely for measurement purposes to optimise altitude training benefits. On Monday, Jonas Vingegaard confirmed his team’s use of the rebreathers in an interview with the Danish newspaper Politiken, asserting, “There is nothing suspicious about it.”
At a post-stage press conference on Stage 16, Pogačar was asked if he knew about the rebreathers and if he had used them. He responded, “When I heard this, I was thinking about the car exhaust, I don’t know. I don’t know about that much, so I have no comment. I don’t know what it is. I was always thinking about what goes out from the exhaust of a car. Maybe I’m just uneducated.”
Out on the road, Pogačar had a relatively tranquil Stage 16, the last flat day of the 2024 Tour de France, which remained largely uneventful until the closing kilometres despite fears of crosswinds. Although he was caught behind in a late crash involving Biniam Girmay, Pogačar emerged unscathed and finished in 37th place, even jokingly ‘sprinting’ for the line in Nimes with a teammate.
Pogačar will be in his element with Wednesday’s return to the high mountains at Superdevoluy and again in the Alps on Friday and Saturday. When asked if he had a message for the sprinters, whose chances of Tour de France success essentially ended at Nimes, he said, “They will need to survive, especially the last stage 21 time trial. I hope organisers make a nice time limit in the last TT so sprinters that go all the way to Nice don’t need to go full gas on this one. It’s a bit of a shame, there is no sprint on the last day for them, today was more or less the last and it’s a shame that they will miss the Champs Elysées. But I hope they won’t abandon after today.”
Main photo credit: Getty
