A Roundup of the Tour de France Femmes starters
With half of the participating teams being members of the MPCC, the Tour de France Femmes, one of the major races of the season, is an opportunity to consolidate women's cycling's commitment to anti-doping.
After two months of build up, the season of major stage races (Vuelta Femenina, Vuelta a Burgos, Tour of Britain, Tour of Switzerland, Giro d’Italia Women) is getting close to its end with the 4th Tour de France Femmes, which started on Saturday in Brittany. The main goal of the season for many riders brought together 154 competitors representing 22 teams and 26 nationalities at the start.
Still in its early stages of development among the general public, women's cycling is gradually trying to write its finest hours, such as the epic duel between Demi Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma on the slopes of L’Alpe-d'Huez in 2024. In addition to putting on a good show, those involved on the field must also commit to the fight against doping, for fair and clean sport.
In this Tour de France, 24 riders, or just over 15% of the starters, are members of the MPCC on their own. Half of the participating teams (11/22) are also members of our movement. While the MPCC is pleased to see that all teams in the new Women's Pro Team division have joined, we hope that other teams, World Teams and Continental teams, will realise the need to be active in the fight against doping. Despite the fact that relatively few doping cases have come to light in the professional women's sphere in recent years, the latter should not believe itself to be immune to this scourge.
Indeed, unlike their male counterparts in the Tour de France, no female rider, within the starting field, have ever been sanctioned for a positive doping test and suspended for at least six months. Nevertheless, the MPCC has always wanted to keep the light on about doping issues. It is therefore necessary for as many stakeholders as possible to make a formal commitment against it and ensuring that our sport remains credible.
Tour de France : A record number of MPCC riders
At the start of the 112th Tour de France a week ago, the MPCC attracted a record number of individual rider members. Our movement hopes that other players in our sport will follow suit to strengthen the fight against doping.
The highlight of the season, the Tour de France, kicked off around ten days ago with the largest pool of MPCC riders for three years. At the big start from Lille, 57 out of the 184 starting riders began the race as members of our movement. By way of example, the whole Groupama-FDJ squad has its members committed to the MPCC on an individual basis, and six Tour de France teams have at least half of their starting line-up engaged against doping, a fact that we welcome.
In total, these 57 riders represented 14 nationalities and 19 of the 23 starting teams. These figures testify to the diversity of the peloton and the commitment of the riders, who are universally aware of the fight against doping. They are also a reminder of the spirit of the MPCC, whose membership is based on voluntary participation. The fight against cheating is not just a specifically French issue, but affects all lovers and professionals of our sport, so that it remains an example in competition.
Despite this, two riders who had been suspended in the past for an anti-doping rule violation and who had served a minimum six-month ban took part in this Tour de France. However, these riders do not belong to MPCC teams, which abide by one of our main rules : « not to hire any rider tested positive and suspended for more than six months in the two years following its suspension ». Only half of the participating teams - the 7 World Tour teams that are members of the movement and the 5 invited Pro Teams - chose to share our commitment to more credible cycling, a sign of how far we still have to go.
Alongside the riders and the teams, we would also like to emphasize the responsibility and weight that race organisers such as Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) can shoulder. ASO is doing its part by only granting wildcards to the Tour de France if the team is a member of the MPCC. This is a step that other organisers could follow in the future, and would illustrate the unity of the various stakeholders in cycling in the face of doping. Because the battle against this scourge will only be won by remaining active in the fight.
Giro d'Italia Women : being active in the fight against doping
Thanks to the actions of the UCI and numerous race organizers, women's professional cycling has grown exponentially over the past decade, and has undergone significant development, so that all female cyclists can express their talents on the road and throughout the season, just like their male colleagues.
The MPCC welcomes this state of affairs, but our movement also hopes that women's cycling entities will make a strong commitment to doping. Since the beginning of the year and a reform of the structure of international professional cycling, the MPCC has been pleased to gather all the teams from the Pro Team level (7 in total) and 4 of the 15 Women's World Teams.
Keeping the light on
While the stage race season has been in full swing for two months now, with the launch of the Tour of Spain, the Giro d’Italia Women punctuates this build-up to the main target for many female racers: the Tour de France Femmes, to be held from July 26 to August 3. Setting off from Bergamo on Sunday, the Giro features 15 MPCC members on their own, including sprinter Lorena Wiebes and stage race specialists Juliette Labous and Evita Muzic.
Only 6 out of the 22 participating teams are also members of our movement. That's not enough. We therefore encourage all other runners and non-member teams to become involved in the fight against doping by joining us, and thus consolidate an ongoing battle for the credibility of their sport.
Commit to MPCC, join us
Be players in the fight against doping !
Credibility figures : Transparency is at stake
At the end of the second quarter, the MPCC has taken notice of a relatively low number of doping cases in cycling, the 13th highest among the sports listed (9 cases in 2025). Over and above the situation in our sport, a number of recent events have raised the question of transparency.
The tension between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its American counterpart (USADA) has not yet subsided, as the latter is reluctant to pay its share of WADA's 2025 operating budget. For the past two years, USADA’s CEO Travis Tygart has been at open war with the newly re-elected President of the world anti-doping regulator, Witold Banka. At issue are the agency's alleged ‘lack of transparency’, its governance, which is deemed undemocratic, and its handling of the Chinese swimmers* case, which erupted in the spring of 2024, just a few weeks before the Olympic Games. So that the word war between the two leaders are damaging the image of sport and the world of anti-doping.
The recent holding of the « Enhanced Games » (May 21-24), games on the fringes of the Olympic movement that authorise performance-enhancing products, and a new offensive against WADA led by US senators are a reminder that it remains difficult to gather around the fight against doping if political considerations threaten the fight for fair and clean sport. The latter can only be ensured if all the stakeholders involved play the transparency card, an idea repeated time and again by USADA when it raises its complaints with WADA.
The agency is struggling to provide fast and effective answers on ban of certain medical methods that border on doping, such as carbon monoxide inhalation (banned by the UCI since February 1), for all sports. Other bans on substances such as Tapentadol, an opioid more powerful than Tramadol and used by some teams, have still not been imposed yet. Finally, latest press investigations are also leading us to be vigilant about microdoses, where major progress needs to be made in their detection.
Keeping the light on
TRANSPARENCY IS THE WATCHWORD IN ANTI-DOPING POLICIES
Above all, it is thanks to transparency, on the part of honest athletes and testing bodies (national agencies, laboratories, federations, etc.) that doping can be contained. It is also thanks to transparency that the MPCC is able to regularly assess the state of play in the fight against doping through the Credibility Figures. For example, some agencies and international federations do not make public the names of athletes accused of doping, most of the time for legal reasons and particularly concerning the protection of personal data.
This limit has been further illustrated by the publication of an article by Hajo Seppelt, a journalist specialized in the world of anti-doping, establishing that around a hundred athletes sanctioned by the German anti-doping agency (NADO Germany) have never had their names made public since 2020, largely because of the protection of their anonymity. In this way, NADO Germany is trying to protect itself from a large number of legal actions that would jeopardise its finances, but this has not prevented it from making public the cases of athletes Sofia and Sara Benfarès in 2024, and much more recently the case of canoeist Martin Hiller, world champion in 2022. WADA also emphasises in the World Code, a regulation imposed on all its signatories including Germany, that public disclosure of an athlete's name is possible if the athlete is informed.
Reveal – Blow the whistle
ATHLETICS ON THE FRONT LINE
On the other hand, an organization as the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit), the authority in charge of the fight against doping in athletics, works tirelessly on behalf of its sport. By way of example, the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) has not reported any case for over six months. It is a proof that the targets of harmonising the rules and increasing transparency are still a work in progress.
Thus in the first half of the year, the AIU, national anti-doping agencies and the press revealed 74 doping cases in athletics, which remains by far the most affected sport. Among those implicated in the second quarter were world silver medalist in the long and triple jump Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, from Ukraine, and Benard Kibet Koech, the 10-mile world record holder, from Kenya. The growing number of cases in MMA, which we have already highlighted in our previous reports, is now the third most cited sport, with 28 cases revealed in the first half of 2025. The AFLD (French Anti-Doping Agency) had already identified this trend in this sport a year ago, when it published its annual activity report.
France is also the 3rd most mentioned country for doping cases and sports fraud, packed in 4 sports : athletics, rugby, tennis (cases of corruption and/or match-fixing) and equestrian sports. However, France remains far behind Russia and India, whose growing number of cases, particularly in athletics, is raising questions.
BACK TO NORMAL IN CYCLING ?
Despite growing suspicions of cheating in recent years, only 9 cases of doping in cycling came to light after the first six months of the year. A year after the Andrea Piccolo case, no World Tour rider has been named. And at Pro Team level, it has to go back to 2022 to see a rider quoted in a doping case. However, two Continental riders tested positive for the second quarter.
Professional cycling has definitely paid a high price in the past and has therefore had to play the transparency card to weather the various storms it has experienced. Today, the MPCC is encouraging all the stakeholders in our sport to take their part in the fight against doping, whether they are riders, managers, race organisers, clubs or fans. Because it is by working together that cheating will be defeated.
*On 20 April 2024, the American daily newspaper The New York Times and the German television channel ARD published an investigation according to which 23 chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) during a national meeting (31 December 2020 - 3 January 2021), just a few months before the Tokyo Olympic Games (2021). CHINADA, the Chinese anti-doping agency, had not suspended any athletes, justifying its decision by the fact that the swimmers had been victims of food contamination.
Commit to MPCC, join us
Be players in the fight against doping !
Giro d'Italia : A position to be consolidated
The MPCC uses figures to illustrate the commitment of those involved in cycling to the fight against doping, in particular by publishing the identities of the riders who are individual members at the start of the three grand tours. The aim is to encourage those who are guided by a spirit of responsibility to join us.
On Friday, the 108th men's Giro d'Italia set off from Albania for three weeks of intense racing that is likely to be wide open in the absence of the two big names in this type of event : defending champion Tadej Pogaçar and two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. At the start, the MPCC gathers 43 individual members of our movement, representing 15 of the 23 participating teams and 12 nationalities.
RCS Sport, the company ruling the Giro, has chosen to invite the only ProTeam that is not yet a member of the MPCC. We therefore encourage this team to join us, as its membership would send out a strong signal of the commitment of sports entities to fight doping. Finally, two riders that started the Giro have served a suspension of more than six months in the past for an antidoping rule violation. They race for teams that are not members of the MPCC. We therefore hope that the MPCC member teams, and also non-members, will encourage other riders to join our ranks in order to strengthen our commitment to a sport that cares about their health, both physical and mental, and their integrity.
Cycling and the MPCC need riders and their teams
Having been involved in the fight against doping for almost two decades, the MPCC position is not a facade. At the time it was founded, our movement was operating in a very difficult environment, buffeted by doping scandals at the highest level of our sport. Since its inception, the MPCC has taken strong decisions to restore credibility, notably through the 10 fundamental rules adopted by all teams wishing to become members of our association (no hiring of a suspended rider two years after the end of the sanction, immediate withdrawal of a rider tested positive, etc.), but also through an extremely cautious attitude towards some performance-enhancing methods that border on legality.
The recent decisions taken by the MPCC and its member teams to warn against the use of ketones, pending the publication of a UCI impact assessment on the subject, and to reject the misuse of carbon monoxide illustrate the philosophy of our movement : "being active in the fight against doping". We therefore need the riders and their teams to defend credible cycling.
Commit to MPCC, join us
Be players in the fight against doping !
Vuelta Femenina : Riders and teams should take a stance !
Part of the Women's World Tour calendar since 2018, the Vuelta Femenina will kick off the season for major stage races on Sunday, culminating in the Tour de France Femmes at the end of July. The MPCC is committed to ensuring that men's cycling is credible, and also insists that women's cycling takes the same path, involved in the fight against doping. Our movement is delighted by the ever-increasing visibility and popularity of women cyclists, and hopes that they will also make a commitment to their credibility in an increasingly competitive circuit.
The election at the end of 2024 of Emily Brammeier (Team Picnic-POSTNL) as vice-president of the MPCC, dedicated to women's cycling, is a step in this direction. Emily Brammeier is the point of contact for all those, whether racers or sports managers, and all those, particularly in the support teams, who wish to join us in the fight against doping.
Open on a voluntary basis to both individual riders and teams, membership of the MPCC is a bellwether of this commitment to fighting the scourge of doping. Before the start of the Vuelta Femenina, our movement had 18 individual members participating in the race and 10 teams out of the 21.
Some MPCC members, such as stage race specialist Juliette Labous and Tour de France Femmes stage winner Liane Lippert, are among the 147 starters. We encourage other riders from MPCC and non-MPCC teams to join us and « keep the lights on ».
Commit to MPCC, join us
Be players in the fight against doping !
CREDIBILITY FIGURES : STAYING THE COURSE AGAINST DOPING
At the end of the first quarter, the MPCC found out only 4 cases of doping in professional cycling, most of which were detected at Continental level. Faced with new doping techniques, our movement also hopes that all the stakeholders in our sport will remain active in the fight against this scourge.
After an eventful 2024 for the anti-doping stakeholders, from the positive tests of world tennis leaders Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek to the political tensions between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its American counterpart (USADA), the 2025 first quarter have witnessed a relative calm. WADA is in the midst of an elective process for its presidency - Poland's Witold Banka is the favourite to succeed himself - and at the same time has to deal with the US administration's refusal to pay its share (3.6 million $) of the governing body's budget, which was around 52 million $ in 2024. Even though the anti-doping control body insists that its work will not be jeopardised, this tension reflects the difficulty of maintaining unity in a battle that is key to the credibility of sport.
On its side, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has elected a woman, for the first time in its history, coming from Africa : the former swimmer olympic champion Kirsty Coventry. With her background as a top-level athlete, the Zimbabwean had already made a commitment to athletes and against doping by joining the IOC Athletes' Commission before becoming its Chair between 2018 and 2023. The youngest president in the institution's history has often spoken of responsibility, particularly towards young athletes. ‘’It's so important to have those conversations with young athletes to say 'you are good enough by yourself, you don't need to take extra’ ’’, she said a few months after winning the presidency of the Athletes' Commission.
PROVIDING THE MEANS AGAINST DOPING
The election of Kirsty Coventry as head of the IOC may therefore raise hopes of a change in the world of sport : for the benefit of women athletes, in a still very male-dominated field, for young people, with the aim of practising sport in a healthy way, whatever the level, but also for the African continent, where sport is a powerful fuel for social advancement and the promotion of countries through their champions.
Funding controls means playing a part in the fight against doping. Taking a stand on the physical and mental health of athletes, especially the youngest, is also being a player in the fight against doping. The MPCC has never ceased to do so since its foundation in 2007, and has maintained a constant state of vigilance by communicating frequently with the bodies that govern professional cycling (UCI, ITA, WADA, among others), by taking actions (cortisol tests at races) and by speaking out against doping.
Reveal - Blow the whistle
ONLY 4 DOPING CASES IN CYCLING
The Credibility Figures are some sort of this monitoring in cheating, not only in cycling but in sport in general. In the first quarter of the year, we identified more than 180 cases of doping and sporting fraud (doping control refusals, corruption of athletes or officials, etc.) reported in the press, by national anti-doping agencies and international federations. Nearly a quarter of these cases concerned athletics (43) and the first quarter of 2025 confirmed the growing importance of MMA (13). For cycling, only 4 cases were reported among professionals, 3 of which were linked to the establishment of a biological passport extended to Continental riders by the Portuguese Federation (UVP-FPC).
Keeping the light on
Within six months, the Adop - the Portuguese anti-doping agency - has already convicted six riders of doping, but most of the time well after the period in question, thus exposing the limits of the battle. This is a proof that the fight against doping must not stop, but rather be strengthened. In this respect, the MPCC was delighted with the UCI's reaction regarding the ban on carbon monoxide inhalation and now hopes that WADA will take over and extend this decision to all sports, considering the major health risk. Our movement also hopes that the ITA, which monitors most of the controls in our sport and has investigative powers, will look into these new doping methods and ensure that the teams comply with the UCI rule against the use of carbon monoxide.
Aware of these realities, those involved on the sports field - teams, riders, representatives, support staff and race organisers - must step up their commitment to the fight against doping and to the safety for riders, through preventive action and a responsible attitude and discourse. Those of us who are members of the MPCC should encourage our colleagues to join us, so that we can work towards greater credibility for our sport.
Commit to MPCC, join us
Be players in the fight against doping !
CREDIBILITY FIGURES : THE FIGHT GOES ON
At the end of 2024, the MPCC noted that the number of doping cases and sporting fraud in cycling was lower than in 2023. Beyond these figures specific to our sport, our movement wonders about the state of the fight against doping in other disciplines and the various cases that have undermined the credibility of certain bodies dedicated to this fight.
For 17 years, the MPCC has been committed to cycling that is credible in its most general sense, and has never ceased to emphasise its responsibility towards all those involved in the sport, be they riders, riders' representatives, team managers, support staffs or race organisers. While the health status in the peloton has undeniably improved over the last fifteen years, our movement has always opted to be cautious and reminded everyone that we must be active in the fight against doping if our sport is to continue to live. This fight is still relevant today, as the ever-increasing professionalisation of teams is reflected in ever more scientific training methods, pushing riders to their limits. Some of them have even said that they practice a very different sport from the one they started out in.
This is a positive sign that cycling is still in search of maturity and is open to progress, but that it has not abandoned its spirit of human-scale practice, close to its supporters, accessible to everyone and friendly. However, the extraordinary performances of some of the world's top cyclists have raised again the shadow of cheating among some of the sport's followers. Careful about doping practices, the MPCC was quick to warn cycling world, in mid-2024, when misuse of drugs (use of Tapentadol, reputed to be more powerful than Tramadol, banned by WADA) or performance-enhancing methods close to doping (carbon monoxide inhalation) came to light. These practices show that for some people « anything that isn't banned is allowed » and that they don't want to be « involved in the fight against doping ». Unfortunately, these manners fuel suspicion for our athletes and our sport.
Being active in the fight against doping
CLARIFICATION NEEDED ON SOME PRACTICES
With these threats to the credibility of cycling, we hope that new red lines will be clearly drawn. The MPCC and its members are still waiting for the results of an impact assessment on ketones and, as the UCI, do not advise their use from 2019, pending the results of this study. They also hope that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will quickly take a position, particularly on carbon monoxide inhalation. On 19 November 2024, the MPCC formally asked WADA for a rapid ban on these practices. There has been no response to date. Carbon monoxide carries a potentially fatal risk if taken in an uncontrolled way, and its inhalation is, at the same time, in the grey area of prohibited methods by the WADA. In fact, carbon monoxide prevents the blood from transporting oxygen, thereby promoting the hypoxia sought after in high-altitude training camps. Its treatment could fall into the category of « Manipulation of blood or blood components » established by WADA. Caution is therefore still called for, not only for the sake of the integrity of the competitions but also for the health of the riders, who are first and foremost involved in cycling.
In this context, we finally counted 22 doping cases and/or sports frauds among road, track, mountain bike and BMX professionals, as well as in para-cycling at international level. The total for 2024 is therefore lower than the 28 cases recorded in 2023. Nearly two-thirds of the incriminated athletes were competing at Continental level at the time of their positive test or breach of a sporting regulation. Two of these riders were racing at World Tour level and in teams that were members of our movement at the time these cases came to light. These teams strictly applied our rule no. 1: immediately suspend a rider when a positive test is announced.
TENNIS IN TROUBLE
However, the MPCC regrets that other non-member teams did not adopt a stricter attitude towards suspended riders, who were quickly able to return to competition after serving suspensions. Once again, this is not being « active in the fight against doping ». The news over the last few months strengthen our position on antidoping, not just for cycling but for sport in general. Cycling is only the ninth sport most affected by doping, far behind athletics (172 cases recorded) and strength athletics (92 cases in weightlifting, 66 in powerlifting). The upward trend was confirmed for mixed martial arts (27 cases), the figures for which can be explained by the legalisation of this discipline in France from 1 January 2020 and the consequent increase in the number of tournaments likely to be inspected by the AFLD (the French antidoping agency). The number of doping cases is higher both in France and in the United States, which remains the core of this sport.
This review could not be concluded without mention of the shocks that have hit the tennis elite, both men's and women's, as two of its stars have been named in cases : Jannik Sinner, world No. 1 who tested positive for Clostebol in March and was subsequently cleared by the ITIA, the International Tennis Integrity Agency, and Iga Swiatek, considered to be the best clay-court player in the world and also world No. 1 last year. The Pole player was suspended for a month for TMZ contamination (Trimetazidine). In the Sinner case, WADA has already decided to appeal against the decision (arbitration procedure on 16 and 17 April to the Court of Arbitration for Sport).
WADA IS CHALLENGED
The organisation that rules the fight against doping at world scale, and whose credibility has been under attack for several years from its American counterpart (USADA), also faces a number of challenges : reassuring its effectiveness after the Chinese swimmers‘ scandal, which was kept for three years but revealed by the press last spring; dealing with the refusal of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to pay the American contribution to the 2025 budget; and ensuring that the World Code is respected by as many countries as possible, which must adapt their legislation or risk jeopardising their athletes’ participation in international events.
These challenges show that the fight against doping can sometimes be a daunting task, requiring significant financial resources and especially the unity of all those involved in sport (sports associations, athletes, federations, events organisers). The attitude must be uncompromising towards cheaters, because the credibility of sport as a whole depends on it. It is for all these reasons that the MPCC insists that everyone becomes « active in the fight against doping ». Because this has to be the way to win this match.
Commit to MPCC, join us ! Be players in the fight against doping !
Best wishes for 2025
The MPCC President Roger Legeay and all the members of the movement wish you all the best for 2025. We hope to see even more of you involved in the fight against doping, committed to this ongoing battle and to the credibility of cycling.
Happy New Year to you all !
Women's World Tour wildcards & MPCC memberships : differencies between organizers
As with the men's World Tour, the MPCC is publishing for the first time a summary of wildcards on the Women's World Tour races. The analysis of these figures is intended to be distinct from that of the men's elite, as women's professional cycling is at a different stage of development, but a one that is growing fast.
There are 16 women's teams in our movement: 4 World Teams and 12 Continental teams. Of these 12 teams, 7 will become Women's Pro Teams, the new intermediate level implemented between the Women's World Tour and the Continental level, from next season. All the Women's Pro Teams will be members of the MPCC, a fact which we are delighted about and which encourages us to maintain our fight against doping while acting for more credible cycling.
For 2024, the number of invitations to World Tour races for MPCC teams has varied, a sign that women's professional cycling is still looking for a good balance. While the races run by Amaury Sport Organisation, such as Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, and those organised by Flanders Classics, like the Tour of Flanders and Ghent-Wevelgem, have reached 90% or even 100% of « MPCC wildcards », others are still a long way off. We hope that these organisers and non-member teams will become involved in the fight against doping to support the development of women's cycling.
Out of the 227 invitations issued for the 27 races on the Women's World Tour calendar in 2024, 63% were given to teams that are members of our movement. While the number of MPCC teams may seem low, these same teams are competing at a very high level. At the same time, we are calling on Women's World Tour teams who share our values but are not yet members to join us. With the promotion of Emily Brammeier* to the position of vice-president at our last board meeting, the MPCC confirms its commitment to follow the development of women's cycling, always under the banner of responsibility and fairness in sport.
* Emily Brammeier is Head of Communications for Team DSM Firmenich-PostNL and an individual member of the MPCC.