Vingegaard to use biological technology before the Tour de France, UCI agrees

A decision taken by the UCI could cause controversy in the peloton in the coming weeks.

It may have been a quiet, but decisive, revolution that took place in the world of professional cycling on June 4. The International Cycling Union (UCI) officially authorized the use in competition of respiratory sensors developed by Tymewear, a cutting-edge sports technology startup, after an initial rejection a few months ago.

Already tested in recent months by Team Visma | Lease a Bike, these so-called "transformational" sensors had been temporarily suspended by the UCI pending further evaluation. This has now been done. In a note sent to the Dutch team, and revealed by Outside Magazine, the UCI ruled: "Considering that the sensor appears to be commercially available and that the data it captures does not appear to undermine the integrity of the sport, the UCI has decided to authorize the use of the sensor in competition."

Concretely, these sensors allow for unprecedented precision in measuring runners' ventilation, providing new biological data that has been difficult to access during races until now. Much more than a gadget, it's a real tool for understanding effort that athletes will now be able to use, just like power or heart rate.

Mathieu Heijboer, Performance Director of the Visma | Lease a Bike team, is enthusiastic: "Measuring ventilation in the field, with the greatest precision possible to date, will give us considerable insight into how the body handles efforts in competition. These efforts cannot be replicated in training or in the laboratory. This will greatly help us optimize training and improve our racing strategies."

Still in the learning phase, it wouldn't be surprising to see Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, or Simon Yates equipped with these sensors. And if the results are forthcoming, there's no doubt this innovation will quickly become widespread within the professional peloton.