Velobs

Does a sponsor go against the wind if he is interested in cycling ?

The speech of Michel Thétaz lays the foundations of the debate. In the opinion of the company IAM’s director, stick its image on a cycling team is a risky gamble today. But it's a gamble that he decided to take, being fully aware that the wheel will turn in the future, and then, it will be much more complicated to get a place in the cycling world. This "countercyclical" choice is difficult to make in a business logic, and yet, the payoffs are well worth it.

The interview with Michel Thétaz, director of IAM :

Like Michel Thétaz, Vincent Lavenu regrets that cycling maintains a relatively tarnished image in the eyes of the general public and a fortiori, of potential investors. To the AG2R-La Mondiale’s manager, cycling has changed, but it needs to reflect this situation outside the rather closed circle of this sport. Lavenu is however delighted with the attitude and loyalty of the French teams’ partners. He is himself at the head of his team for 25 years...

The interview with Vincent Lavenu, AG2R La Mondiale manager : 

If sponsors do not come to cycling, so cycling should go to them. This is somehow the general idea of Yvon Sanquer, also well aware of the label still sadly sticked on cycling. The manager of Cofidis also appreciates the loyalty of partners in France, but knows that it is not these companies cycling needs to convince. Convince means giving arguments and evidence of the merits of sponsorship in cycling. And to Sanquer, there is plenty.

The interview with Yvon Sanquer, Cofidis manager :

MPCC chairman Roger Legeay adopts a more optimistic approach. According to the former manager of Crédit Agricole, the partners are still present, even more than in the past, and they inject more money than they did a few years ago. He conceives that the market is a bit blocked at the French level, but argues that there is room for new sponsors internationally.

The interview with Roger Legeay, MPCC chairman :

Marketing director of the Belgian lottery, Marc Frederix is the only representative of a sponsor in this debate, together with Michel Thétaz. To him, it is clear that the dark page of the cycling history was turned, and that is what cycling have to put forward and present to potential new partners. According to Frederix, cycling still lacks a "communications platform" that would allow the sport to seduce and attract even more new sponsors.

The interview with Marc Frederix, marketing director of Lotto:

La retranscription de l'entretien :

"A lot of teams are very well aware, and especially the riders are aware that doping is not the future of cycling. I think that the sponsors that come on board today have more chance to find a cleaner sport than they did ten years ago. And they have more chance to have a sport with cycling than in others sports. Pressure in cycling is so high and there are so many controls that doping in cycling has become a minor case and not a major case anymore.

Cycling would need a communication platform to prove to big companies that cycling is cleaner now than a lot of other sports. There is a lot of passion amongst the fans of cycling. So the popularity and the passion. I think too that the name of the team is the name of the sponsor, and also the accessibility. I think that is very important that you can approach the riders. It is a little bit different than in a lot of other sports where the champions are the kings and you can not approach them anymore. So, it is very accessible for the general public."

by Velobs

Cycling, a driving force of anti-doping

The gap is decreasing, cycling presents the fastest growth

MPCC keep regular accounts of the number of positive tests by sports, which highlights the significant number of cases in the two most affected sports: baseball and athletics. But what about in terms of volume of tests led by the different federations ? Three sports rise to over 20,000 tests per year if we refer to the annual report released by the AMA in July: cycling is one of them, with football and athletics. For comparison, there are 1,300 professional cyclists in the world, that is to say 600 less than the only number of participants to the only Athletics World Championships. And football lists 113,000 professional players on five continents...

Among all sports considered by the World Anti-Doping Agency, cycling is also the one that shows the most eloquent increase in number of controls carried out. 1628 more between 2012 and 2013, when football is stable (-6) and athletics decline sharply (-2884). Cycling has never been so high with 22,252 controls, now pointing to 5750 units of football, when in 2008, biggest year of football with 33,445 controls, the difference was 14,009!

Leader in blood tests, a precursor of Adams and of the biological passport

It's not only quantitatively that cycling sets an example: regarding the number of blood tests done in 2013, it peaks at 1224, against 831 for athletics and 667 for football. Cycling is also a leader in the detection of EPO, with 7322 controls against 5227 for athletics and 2379 for football. Of all the "heavy" substances that are EPO, testosterone, growth hormone and homologous blood transfusion, cycling is never further than second. Football forsakes growth hormone (8th), and athletics transfusion (5th).

A quantitative and qualitative anti-doping campaign which shows that cycling does not leave anything to chance, not to mention his pioneering role in the development of geolocation (adopted from its inception in 2005) and the biological passport (also adopted from its inception in 2008 ), while football, for example, has still not decided to integrating Adams to its plan.

by Velobs

Howman: “The public demands more transparency”

"There are a couple of gaps that need to be filled"

WADA just released its last yearly report listing all the antidoping tests carried out by the different sports in the world. Should we encourage federations to tend increasingly towards greater transparency regarding controls?

Absolutely, and that’s what we need in terms of annual reports, because we need each of the federations and the national anti-doping agencies to file full reports, indicating the whole test distribution plan, and the way in which their tests were conducted, and the outcomes. But we can only publish what we get, and we can only publish in full, what we get from the laboratories. So there are a couple of gaps that need to be filled, and we’re hoping that as we go forward they will be filled by more cooperation from the anti-doping organizations.

What are the associations or organizations remain more discrete about it?

We never rate or rank the anti-doping organizations; I think that is for you to do. You can look at the figures and make some opinions. We prefer to work with everybody, because we know everybody needs some help, and we know everybody can do better, but sometimes they can’t do it by themselves. So our job is to work with them to increase their quality.

What are the federations or organizations involved in transparency regarding the anti-doping fight?

It depends on what you classify as transparency, because a lot of the time, when some federations publish the list of the names of the athletes they tested--and they are reluctant to do that now because of privacy laws and data protection laws--so you can’t be as transparent as you perhaps want to be. There are other laws that prevail in some countries which preclude them even naming those who break the rules, or naming them only in a semi-public way by posting them on a website, rather than issuing a press release. So there are areas where things can be more transparent, if people can see the good benefit in that, and we would like to promote it if we can.

"We are trying to do things to change those rules"

What’s the benefit for these federations?

I think the public really demands more transparency nowadays, and is not happy when things are swept under the carpet or not disclosed. It sounds as though there’s a cover up, or a secret, which is being hidden from them, and they don’t like that. So we would always, I think, make sure that transparency was one of the number one issues, and we try to set the example on that. Again, however, we’re constricted by rules and laws sometimes that we are not really happy with, and we are trying to do things to change those rules. So, I think transparency is a value that the public really does wish to have, and wish to see in sport.

What are the obligations that the federations must submit about transparency of controls and results?

In terms of publication you will see that there’s an article in the code that tells each of the anti-doping organizations what they need to do in terms of publishing the cases of those who break the rules, and we’ve got ways of monitoring that to ensure that that is done. That would include sanction periods and so on, and we’ve got rights of appeal. So we can keep an eye on that. What we also have is an obligation on the anti-doping organizations to publishing annually their statistics, to show the tests are done, and the results, and so on. That’s where we think there needs to be some improvement, as we enter into the revised code of next year, I think there will be significant improvement. We’ve tried to lead the way by the way we’ve published ours, because you might remember that three or four years ago we were only issuing a ten-page report. Now it’s very detailed, and we think that those sorts of details can be copied by others.

Does the idea of a biological passport widespread in other sports is a track as you explore to strengthen anti-doping fight?

We are trying to do that. It’s not mandatory--as you know--it’s a discretionary thing. But we have worked with FIFA, for example, and they’ve launched their biological passport in Brazil. We think that others will join, because the benefits of profiling are significant. It not only allows the athlete to say that they are clean, because they’ve been profiled—but it also allows more information to come to the testing authority to check whether someone is suspicious. And, finally, it also shows someone who’s cheating. So there are benefits involved in the passport, which we think ought to go across boards.

by Velobs

Must a sponsor dictate its law?

The sponsor's confidence to the management is the key according to Vincent Lavenu. The general manager of the AG2R La Mondiale team is in a good position to speak and to sing the praises about it: after two doping cases in less than a year, his team made the choice to suspend itself last year and did not participate to the Critérium du Dauphiné. Both the sport and sponsor entities of the team are members of MPCC, which allowed the sponsor to establish a course of action.

The interview with Vincent Lavenu, AG2R-La Mondiale manager

Yvon Sanquer, general manager of the Cofidis team, agrees with Vincent Lavenu. Trust must be total between the sport and the sponsor structures, around a course of action set from the start. However, Sanquer also insists on the fact that the sponsors are now well aware of the unavoidable concern that ethics represents.

The interview with Yvon Sanquer, Cofidis manager : 

MPCC's chairman Roger Legeay validates the ideas of Vincent Lavenu and Yvon Sanquer. Absolute transparency must be effective between the sponsor and the men it chooses to install at the head of the team. Especially since cycling is not always the chosen field of the partner. The MPCC's "club of sponsors" allowed to get everyone around the table.

The interview with Roger Legeay, MPCC chairman :

Marketing Director of the Belgian Lottery (Lotto), Marc Frederix brings the contribution "representing sponsors" in this debate. And his vision is clear: the sponsor must protect itself against every bad publicity affiliated with its brand. Thus, in addition to agree on a directive with the management staff, the company Lotto, itself a member of MPCC, requires its employees to sign a code of ethics in order to cover itself as much as it can.

The inteview with Marc Frederix, marketing director of Lotto :

The transcript of the interview :

« If we're talking about image, for the company like the national lottery, it is very important that there is an ethical charter, and that we can avoid all negative publicity regarding drug abuse, doping, etc. We impose the management that they, and the sport directors, and all the riders, that they sign the ethical charter, and that they are ambassadors of the brand, and as ambassadors of the brand, we cannot accept negative publicity around the brand.

I think that for some older sponsors, commercial sponsors, 10 years ago, all publicity was publicity, no matter if it was negative or positive. Now I find within our co-sponsors that they say “okay, the image of cycling is changing, and we as co-sponsors, we have to contribute to that changing image”. Today they even more ask an ethical approach of the team than 10 years ago.

The co-sponsors, the government and the company, we have had this doping free policy since 20 years in fact. It would be better to have solidarity, equality between all the teams. And today a majority of teams are members and a minority stays out of MPCC. Definitely it would be better that all the teams would be part of MPCC. »

by Velobs

French Ministry of Sports meets MPCC

Thursday, July 3, the French Secretary of State for Sport Thierry Bawler met Roger Legeay, President of MPCC, accompanied by Armand Megret, medical consultant of MPCC and Christophe Lavergne, General Counsel of French Cycling Federation. It happened one day after the presentation, during the Council of Ministers, of a bill to strengthen and harmonize at the international level the control and sanction regimes in the antidoping framework. However, the Ministry affirms that "in addition to the controls, support and encouragement should be given to collective and positive actions driven by sporting communities, which implement efforts based on prevention and protection of athletes' health and sport integrity."

This appointment echoes the request of MPCC to the French Ministry of Sports in February. Following initial discussions dating from 2013, MPCC had wanted to raise awareness among the French government about cortisol. Our request was clear: apply the rules of cortisol controls for all teams, members or non-members of MPCC on competitions held in France. The appeal was heard by Thierry Bawler who "promised to integrate, into his work on athlete status, a reflection on adaptation of occupational medicine regulations to the specific nature of high-level athlete activity, to ensure better protection of their health."

Press release of the Ministry :

Fight against doping is a shared concern

Doping is a curse for the sport and for the health of athletes at all levels.

The fight against doping remains a priority of the Ministry of Sports which leads a resolute action at both national and international levels.

Wednesday, July 2, Najat VALLAUD BELKACEM and Thierry BRAILLARD presented during the Council of Ministers the bill that will allow the transposition by way of reasoned order of the third version of the World Anti-Doping Code, which will be effective on the 1st January 2015.

The purpose is to strengthen and harmonize at the international level the control and sanction regimes. This effort of international convergence is absolutely necessary, both from the point of view of the effectiveness of the fight, and the acceptance of the rules by the world of sport stakeholders, considering that rules must be the same for all.

France remains an actor at the forefront of the fight against doping, adopting a proactive approach internationally recognized. Valérie FOURNEYRON continues to represent the Council of Europe in the Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and France will host the Executive Committee and Foundation Council of WADA in November 2014.

On a national basis, this harmonisation is enlarged by a reinforcement of the efficiency of anti-doping tests, with a better targeting thanks to the biological passport, a better exchange of information and the use of new ways of investigation.

Fight against doping needs a mobilization and coordination of all the sporting and public entities involved : sporting federations, organizers, AFLD and state services, including police and customs.

In addition to the controls, support and encouragement should be given to collective and positive actions driven by sporting communities, which implement efforts based on prevention and protection of athletes' health and sport integrity.

In this context, Thierry Braillard, Secretary of State for Sport, met on Thursday 3 July M. Roger Legeay, Chairman of Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC), accompanied by M. Christophe Lavergne, General Counsel of French Cycling Federation (FFC) and Dr. Armand Megret, medical consultant of MPCC, whose innovative, responsible and exemplary approach deserves to be supported and promoted. Besides that, 15 teams at the start of the Tour de France, out of a total of 22, are members of MPCC and signed up its charter.

Following that meeting, Thierry Braillard promised to integrate, into his work on athlete status, a reflection on adaptation of occupational medicine regulations to the specific nature of high-level athlete activity, to ensure better protection of their health.

The fight against doping, as part of protection of integrity, ethics of sport and athletes' health, remains a shared concern.

by Velobs

Dr. Boelens : Corticosteroids, "eliminate the grey area"

What MPCC's rules say

Recently interviewed for the debate « Can a medicine of performance be credible ? » launched by MPCC, Anko Boelens has been able, thanks to the solicitation of Cyclingnews’ journalists, to further comment on his conception of medicine in cycling. The referring doctor of Giant-Shimano, member of MPCC, highlights the differences of process between a MPCC team member and a team only required to respect the WADA and UCI's regulations.

« Corticosteroid is still a legitimate medicine if you need it but you need to take a period of time to get well, he said. It’s the same with corticosteroid injections. It’s a valid way of dealing with tendon problems, for example, but if you need to take it then you need to take eight days off from racing. The most important reason in all of this is because we want to eliminate the grey area. »

« I’d like to see the MPCC rules for all the teams »

To eliminate this « grey area », MPCC wants to reduce as much as possible the room for doubt, and thus decrees on its members, all members on a voluntary basis, more stringent rules than those of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The eight days « forced break » after taking corticoids are part of that: « Some people might feel like that and it might seem like we’re putting ourselves at a disadvantages, he continued. I don’t see it like that because I think it gives us clarity and it gives us clear boundaries to compete in sport. Also the systems in place by WADA are there to stop people abusing the system but in order to eliminate all doubt we as the MPCC have our rules. »

Today, 75% of the international peloton's pro teams (D1 and D2) have joined the movement. The Giant-Shimano's doctor wants to believe that this quota can still grow: « Of course we hope that more teams join us or that WADA do too but until that day someone has to start, he concluded. If no one does it then it definitely won’t happen. I’d like to see the MPCC rules for all the teams, definitely. That’s what we’re regularly asking the UCI and WADA. It’s working because Tramadol is under investigation and Xenon has been banned quickly by WADA. We hope Tramadol will be on the banned list in the future and we feel that glucocorticosteroid and riding races shouldn’t be combined. »

by Velobs