The UCI will soon comment on the consumption of ketone

The ketone, that drink that has created controversy in 2020, caught the attention of the UCI which, after various studies and analysis, will pronounce in a few days on its use.

The ketone and its controversy

A few months ago a new drink appeared that was in professional vogue but was still unknown among the bulk of cyclists: the ketone. This drink, of military origin, was being consumed more and more by the Pro Tour teams because, supposedly, it had great benefits.

But this issue, it was a matter of time, reached the ears of the UCI. Well, actually some cyclists positioned themselves against it in the first place. The most notorious case was that of Dumoulin, who left the Movement for Credible Cycling since his team at the time used ketone, something he understood that bordered on the illegal.

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But, as we say, it was the UCI that finally commissioned a study and a debate among the greatest experts to determine its position regarding the ketone.

The position of the UCI regarding the use of ketone

And that final decision is about to fall. This drink that helps to recover in an accelerated way is going to have a sentence from the highest cycling body. The UCI is going to end up tilting the balance that reigns between those who are in favor and the detractors of the ketone.

All the teams belonging to this Movement for Credible Cycling submitted a request to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which made the appropriate requirements to the UCI in this regard. However, seven professional teams continue to use it, including Jumbo-Visma, Dumoulin's current team and the one he left because he disagreed with its use in Sunweb, something that now sounds like an excuse.

The truth is, the ketone seems to improve performance. Even some claim that this improvement is around 15%, a barbarity if true. But the only truth is that there are no conclusive studies and that little is known about this ketone.

Therefore, in that position of whether it is a dietary supplement or a doping substance, it will finally be the UCI that lets it pass or adds it to its blacklist and bans its use.

Jumbo-Visma itself, through one of its nutritionists, stated that banning it would be banning a food, and that the same should be done with many others, even with carbohydrates. However, at the same time, Asker Jeukendrup who is his name, also stated that it is not a miracle although “it does improve performance”. A contradictory double argument: it significantly improves performance but does not represent an improvement over other foods.

Be that as it may, everyone is waiting for the official note from the UCI on the ketone, because it will be their words and their verdict that will quell the controversy and pave the way for the use or not of the ketone in cycling.