Listeners to Armando Iannucci’s excellent BBC Radio 4 show Strong Message Here would surely raise a smirk at the UCI’s recent press release on the use of ketones in professional cycling.
In the show, Iannucci, the legendary satirist and creator of political comedies The Thick of It and Veep, “decodes the baffling world of political language” and is joined by guests to “crack open and demystify the double-speak” of the modern political lexicon.
One such phrase to feature in the series is the ubiquitous “let me be clear”, which, when uttered by the offending politician, is a sure sign that they’re about to say something that’s anything but.
And so it is with the UCI’s ketones statement published yesterday, which begins: “The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) would like to make its position clear concerning the use of ketone supplements by cyclists…”
We’ll get to what follows soon enough, but first a ketones primer.
What are ketones?
Ketones are an energy source produced naturally in the liver during periods of low carbohydrate intake.
In recent years, they’ve become a popular supplement, used by teams such as Visma-Lease a Bike (one of its sponsors is Ketone-IQ, a ketones manufacturer).
The idea is that the body’s scarce stores of glycogen can be used for the hardest efforts, with ketones’ higher yield of energy helping earlier in a race.
Studies into their effects have shown contrasting results. Some question their direct benefit on endurance performance, with others suggesting more benefits are seen during recovery between hard days, for example during a grand tour.
Both effects have been found in studies at Leuven University in Belgium, with ketones improving athletes’ appetite, and so improving recovery.
Ketone supplements have divided the peloton between the haves and have-nots, and the will and won’ts.
While many teams use them, the MPCC – the Movement for Credible Cycling, a voluntary membership body that goes above and beyond the rules of the day when it comes to what riders should put into their bodies – recommended that member teams shouldn't give them to their riders, primarily because of the unknown health implications of taking them long-term.
A two-tier system
In this two-tier system, what was needed was for the UCI to look into the matter and come back with a definitive recommendation.
And that’s what it promised.
In 2021, the UCI announced a study into ketones that was thought to run for two years – in the meantime, it recommended no rider use ketones, primarily because of evidence of negative effects on the digestive system.
Four years later, and the results and recommendations are in. Well, sort of.
The six-paragraph statement contains little we didn’t already know and it takes until the penultimate paragraph for anything new to emerge.
“The results of a very comprehensive, high-quality study show that taking ketones after competition or high-intensity training sessions has no effect on the quality of recovery.”
It concludes: “As there is no compelling evidence that ketone supplements enhance performance or recovery, the UCI sees no reason for them to be used. Therefore, the UCI does not recommend the inclusion of such supplements in riders' nutritional plans.”
And that’s it.
No details on the study, who conducted it, no links to it – no evidence of the UCI's own study even taking place, nor how the ultimate conclusion has been made from it.
Crucially, ‘health’ isn’t mentioned once. Health was why the UCI advised against ketones until further notice in 2021 and long-term implications are the MPCC’s main problem with ketone supplements.
We’re pretty much back to where we were in 2021, with ketones not banned, but not recommended. According to this press release, ketones are a nothingness.
We’ve asked the UCI for more details on the study. It may well be that this “very comprehensive, high-quality study” is just that.
Until then, all we can do is be mesmerised by this hall-of-fame example of the 'let me be clear' genre.
