Velobs

Giro 2014 : Ten candidates for a wild card, eight are MPCC members

"JOIN US !"

RCS Sport, organizers of the Giro d'Italia, revealed the name of the applicant teams for an invitation to the 2014 edition. If Androni Giocattoli - member of MPCC - is already invited after winning the Italian Cup in 2013, eight other members of MPCC apply for a wild card : Bardiani -CSF Valvole , MTN- Qhubeka , Colombia, Novo Nordisk , Wanty – Groupe Gobert, NetApp - Endura , IAM Cycling and Caja Rural. Only two non- member teams to date, United HealthCare and Yellow Fluo, new team of the former team Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, has been added to the list.

In 2013, all the invitations to join the Tour de France and the Vuelta were awarded to teams members of MPCC. The Giro was the only one to invite a Continental Pro team, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, non-member of MPCC. And this team had suffered two positive controls on the race with Mauro Santambrogio and Danilo di Luca. Before the start of the race, Roger Legeay, President of MPCC, alerted RCS Sport : "I wrote to the organizers of the Giro who invited three teams members of MPCC and one that was not. Unfortunately, the very serious problem came from the team that was not !" MPCC reminds the organizers "they also have the right and duty to make cycling being credible", and invited United HealthCare Team to join.

About Vini Fantini, MPCC contacted in january 2012 RCS Sport, the Giro d'Italia's organizer, after it had invited this team, which wasn't a member of the MPCC. We told them it would be "logical" that all the teams invited on the "grands tours" follow the same rules. RCS Sport then urged Vini Fantini's manager Angelo Citracca to join MPCC, and Citracca answered it would be done "as soon as possible". Eleven months later, this team still hasn't submitted any explicit request. It is also invited to join MPCC.

by Velobs

Brandt: "We can’t get lost on the way any longer”

"Nowadays, there are no miracles anymore, no dramatic changes: a young rider who has talent will become a good professional racer easier than ever."

Christophe Brandt, can you in a first phase introduce your team Color Code - Biowanze ?

Wallonia is a small territory in which the Sports Minister has promoted the creation of two teams, Wallonia-Brussels and Color Code-Biowanze, which consists exclusively of U23 riders. It works in the continuation of what the federation does with the youth, up to the entry into the new talents category. Wallonia-Brussels, where all riders are professional, rather represents the intermediate step towards leading teams as Lotto-Belisol, where one of our riders, Boris Valley, signed in for 2014. It’s a progression throughout a  100% French speaking project. Today, a good Walloon rider knows that the path is clear to progress.

Why have you joined MPCC ?

Joining MPCC was obvious to us. Cycling has changed today. There is more discipline, supervision is more serious. Team budgets are more limited than before, and therefore therefore it is essential to make a difference by investing in training and education. Boris Valley’s transfer to Lotto-Belisol shows other young riders that the route is traced thanks to this range of training aid. Nowadays, there are no miracles anymore, no dramatic changes: a young rider who has talent will become a good professional racer easier than ever. We can see it  in many countries, such as France, where a new generation gets great results: it is a country promised to have the best riders in the world in a few years and it is through training.

What do you teach young riders ?

All the driftings of the past are linked to a lack of supervision. At amateur level, runners would seek advice from the wrong people. We do take young riders when their junior years are complete. That is to say, when cycling is still a game for them and they must make the transition, take care of themselves and train accordingly. We provide them a well-marked road with a well-organized management : the whole system is working with a coach, and a medical service beside, to which they must refer any problem. The referring doctor is not here to give medical advices, he is not involved in the physical preparation. Everyone keeps his own place and role. As a result: the riders are well educated and have a response to each of their questions.

"It is the lack of structure that in the past, has led some young people to drift into doping."

With the pyramid system, they also have their questions answered on the good progress of their career,  have less doubts and do not slip.

It is the lack of structure that in the past, has led some young people to drift into doping. Today, they are taught to train and live their passion. The mentality of the riders has changed as the rules are clear. By us, five blood samples a year are done with each rider. No one is tempted to cheat because it would be seen very quickly. It is no longer possible to get lost on the way and the kids know that if they are serious and they work well, they’ll climb the stages of the rocket. The work previously done only  with professional riders has moved to the youth. A new talent-team recruits from the junior ranks, and does not wait for a few years before it identified talents.

Do you prefer that a rider formed in your team reaches the high level within a team also member of MPCC ?

I would like above all that all teams adhere to MPCC, and also the organizers,  the sponsors ... MPCC rules are logical and normal. Applications for membership are not impossible to meet. What MPCC offer is to the advantage of teams and it is important to see more and more structures from Continental division join the movement. This means they have a medical consultant, a coach, a full executive staff. It also reinforces the link with the sponsor: it is important to know what it invests. The Belgian Federation, a member of MPCC does now issues continental licenses only to structures which are also members of MPCC. This is a sign of a sportive seriousness, but also medical, banking and organizational seriousness. This is essential because  the reconstruction must begin through the base of the pyramid.

by Velobs

Doctors of MPCC's teams members sign up not to using tramadol

Safeguard the riders’ health

MPCC has always endeavoured to defend the riders’ health and it is in this sense that have been established the controls of cortisol rate in several major competitions this year. The battle for tramadol to be registered in the list of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency, follows the same logic. During the last meeting of MPCC teams doctors, 17 of them were attending, as for the referring doctor Armand Megret and the representative of the UCI Mario Zorzoli, problems with this drug have been the focus of debate. Gérard Guillaume, representing the MPCC teams doctors, said that this drug was "dangerous in competition" while Mario Zorzoli drew attention to its "side effects". Tramadol causes drowsiness and conditions that could lead to falls in the race.

The request would have significantly decreased among the riders

WADA keep on observing about this but MPCC is pleased to hear from the teams doctors that due to advertising by the movement about the side effects of tramadol, demand would have decreased considerably among the riders. On February the 7th, teams doctors had agreed to follow the proper medical use of tramadol and related substances: we must go further, and Mario Zorzoli said he was ready to ask the legal department of the UCI to support the request made to WADA, "since the majority of the cycling world agrees." However, the representative of the international board has reminded that a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) allowed the exceptional use of that substance. Doctors of teams members of MPCC are committed to no longer use tramadol in competition.

by Velobs