Jumbo-Visma has found itself under unusual pressure at the Tour de France where it has effectively been forced to confirm it is using ketones.
The supplement, which is ingested in drinks by riders, is
not on WADA’s banned list and is indeed approved for use.
That means it’s perfectly legal and any rider or team
using the supplement is perfectly entitled to do so.
However, the Dutch Telegraaf newspaper ran a story in
Monday’s edition highlighting the fact Jumbo-Visma was using what it called the
“wonder drink”.
The team has come out and confirmed the report, with that
statement now running in many cycling media outlets.
The supplement was created by a team at Oxford University
in response to a challenge from the US Army seeking the most efficient fuel for
troops going into battle.
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In April of last year San Francisco company HVMN was
granted a commercial licence to manufacture what has been reported as the world’s
first ketone ester drink.
It claimed last year that seven of the 22 teams in the Tour de France were using the product. However, no teams were named and those asked about it denied they were using the drink.
Ketones are produced in the liver when the body does not
get enough fuel from food. It causes the body to switch the primary source of
cellular energy to fat from glucose.
This breaks down internal fat stores to make ketones that
feed the brain. The drinks are said to have a very significant impact on
performance and recovery.
Considering it is not banned, has been written about
before and has even been linked to cycling in media reports around the time of
last year’s Tour, it is unusual that Jumbo-Visma has been connected to the
supplement and been forced to comment.
It is enjoying its best season ever and has already won
four Tour stages including the TTT.
And while the Telegraaf report is being cited by the
cycling media as the beginning of the current story being reported, it actually
began with Lance Armstrong on Saturday.
And it appears, certainly from the time line, that the Telegraaf was taking its lead from Lance Armstrong's comments, which were made after Saturday's stage.
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Armstrong, banned for life for doping, and George Hincapie,
who also doped, were discussing Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in
their broadcast after Saturday’s stage 8.
Alaphilippe had gone on the attack late in the stage and
gained the time he needed to take back the yellow jersey.
The conversation came around to why Julian Alaphilippe
had gone back to the team car himself to get bottles.
Armstrong said it was known cycling teams were using ketones
and he wondered if Alaphilippe was going back to the car for the drink, which
Armstrong believed was very beneficial.
He said he was speculating that Alaphilippe may have made
sure to go back to the car because he wanted the drink.
And while Armstrong said he did not know that for sure
about Alaphilippe, he claimed to have knowledge Deceuninck-QuickStep was using
the drink and said Team Sky, as it was then, was the first team with access to
it.
Both teams have denied in the past that they used it.
Indeed when Chris Froome was previously asked about it he said he had to Google
it to find out what it was.
“It’s commonly known that the usage of ketone esters is prevalent
in the peloton,” Lance Armstrong said on The Move podcast.
“It’s totally legally, I’m not trying to expose anybody
here. But the use of ketone esters is there. And I do know that Deceuninck-QuickStep
is one of the biggest consumers of ketone esters.
“It’s very beneficial and if you need it for the last
30-45 minutes of a stage and you’re the only one there, you go get it, that’s a
fact.”
Armstrong then again stressed the supplement was
permitted, meaning what he was saying was not incriminating anyone.
“Ketones are essentially the third fuel source. The body has fat, sugar and ketones. And it’s taken us a long time to perfect the ketone ester that you can drink," he said.
“The taste is horrible, extremely expensive. But it’s
gotten to a place where it’s less expensive and somewhat drinkable.”
Adding it was developed in Oxford, Armstrong said: “So
Team Sky was the first team that had access to ketones.”
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