Groupama commits to the MPCC
Groupama joined the sponsors members of the MPCC, this category now includes 8 sponsor members companies that are determined to help cycling increasing its credibility.
As soon as the Groupama-FDJ cycling team – directed by Marc Madiot - co-partnership deal was revealed, Groupama made an official request to join the sponsors members of the movement. Even if the insurance company will enter in the professional peloton on the 4th of March, at the beginning of Paris-Nice, this membership still kicks off immediately.
As explained by Sylvain Burel, Groupama’s communication director, this involvement matches Groupama’s values: “Every time we have involved in sports, we have stood up for the idea of seeking performance and victory while respecting all of the established rules. This approach makes it possible to get full credibility and total achievement when reaching a sports victory”.
Therefore, Groupama’s will to work towards cycling’s credibility and its MPCC membership make total sense according to Sylvain Burel: “Today, even if cycling still suffers from the circumventions of rules by a few isolated stakeholders, recent studies show that we can look forward with more certainty as in the past. The MPCC leads those necessary studies in order to increase the minimum international ethical rules standards, with an absolute will to make cycling a perfectly responsible and transparent sport. We fully commit to this approach that we share with Marc Madiot”.
8 companies/sponsors are now MPCC members:
AG2R La Mondiale
Bora
Cofidis
Direct Energie
Groupama
FDJ
LCL
Loterie Nationale Belge
Bardiani-CSF probationary member of the MPCC
Member of the MPCC between 2012 and 2015, Bardiani-CSF team has applied to re-join the movement in 2018. This membership request has been accepted on probation.
Bardiani-CSF explains why it wishes to be part of MPCC again : « The decision took by Bruno and Roberto Reverberi, general and team manager of the team, arises from the will to strengthen more and more the internal policy on antidoping and transparency. The decision is based on the sharing of values and purposes promoted by MPCC to have a more and more clean cycling, a relevant and prevailing factor over the contrasts emerged in the past. Of course, the team has accepted and immediately adopted the Association’s rules and relative obligations. »
On 27 December, the MPCC’s Board of Directors validated their membership on probation. The purpose of the movement is not to refuse teams applications. We will always be pleased when a team wants to commit to rules that are stricter than international authorities. In return, the MPCC demands an uncompromising respect for the regulation of the movement before considering full membership. Back in 2015, Bardiani-CSF de fact excluded itself from the movement by not complying with the internal regulation.
2017/12/18 Press Release
Chris Froome's abnormal test result triggered a huge public outrage. When it comes to "specified substance", such as Salbutamol, provisional suspension is not mandatory and the rider is free to choose it or not. Nevertheless, MPCC wishes to make a statement on this topic.
Once again, trouble has been brought upon cycling with the suspicion of a violation of the international anti-doping rules. Given all the efforts made to prevent these kind of events from happening, this is regrettable.
MPCC would like to remind some of its rules, which are applied on a voluntary basis by the 43 team members (65% of the pro peloton, World Tour and Conti Pro), meaning 43 managers and 43 team physicians in charge of these 43 teams and 749 riders.
Article 3: To take responsibility to immediately suspend a rider receiving his first positive testing result. Each member team will inform the President of MPCC as soon as they acknowledge a positive test result sample A.
These rules that the team members commit to were made with a clear purpose: transparency. This is for the benefit of all, and to benefit cycling as well.
This is the reason why MPCC and its Board of Directors, without making any assumption towards the final decision, asks Team Sky to suspend its rider on a voluntary basis, until the end of the procedure. This measure would allow the rider and its team to focus on their defense with serenity, but also to avoid tension among many managers and riders.
Article 9 MEDICAL : TUE must be validated by the physician in charge of the team. It is mandatory for any racer who, due to his health condition, may need a cortisone treatment given systemically -via oral, rectal, intramuscular or intraveinous administration – to be prescribed a sick leave and a competition leave for a minimum of 8 days. Competition participation will resume, subject to a cortisol levels control yielding normal results. Corticoïd infiltrations, which do not require AUT, will imperatively be validated by the physician in charge of the team, who will imperatively prescribe a minimum of 8 days of sick leave and competition leave, as well as a cortisol levels control. In case of unusually low cortisol levels, competition will resume after an additional 8-day rest minimum, and back-to-normal cortisol levels.
MPCC also requests that UCI opens an inquiry following Shane Sutton’s statements. The former Team Sky and UK’s national team’s coach admitted that some of the medicine requiring a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) might have been use to enhance performance.
Given the zero tolerance that everyone advocates and the necessity for transparency, MPCC renews its wish to see Team Sky and all the other teams, sponsors, organizers, national federations, agents, etc… to join MPCC on a voluntary basis. MPCC’s philosophy, alongside the UCI, can make a real difference in the fight against doping.
Vital Concept Cycling Club joins the MPCC
Vital Concept Cycling Club, which will take on its first season in 2018, asked to be part of the MPCC. The breton team will become part of the 21 Pro Continental teams belonging to the movement.
Former rider Jérôme Pineau, Stage winner in 2010 Giro and now general manager of Vital Concept Cycling Club, sent a formal application to be part of the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), exposing his intention: "I commit myself to make sure that each and every member of the team embraces the rules of the MPCC. As a brand new team of Pro Continental, we aim at spreading the moral and ethical values of a credible cycling. Our commitment includes equity, respect for the rules and an exemplary behaviour on and off the bike. I myself supported theses values during my 14 year-long career as a pro rider, and I want my team to be part of the Movement for a Credible Cycling."
The breton team's doctor will be Guillaume Sarre. Lead sprinter of Vital Concept is Bryan Coquard, Omnium olympic silver medalist in 2012. Several riders have been part of World Tour teams in the past: Bert de Backer, Arnaud Courteille, Marc Fournier, Steven Lammertink, Johan Le Bon, Lorenzo Manzin, Kevin Reza or Jonas Van Genechten. Vital Concept will be the 21st Pro Continental Team to be part of the MPCC. With their engagement, the overall number of members of the MPCC rises to 28 out of 44 professional teams in the world.
The MPCC welcomes 2018 Pro Continental team Murias-Euskadi
Basque team Murias-Euskadi, newly promoted to the UCI Pro Continental ranks, has decided to make another significant jump: to join the MPCC.
Now in its fourth year of existence, Murias-Euskadi will embrace a new challenge in 2018: being part of the UCI Pro Continental division.
The team managed by Jon Odriozola has decided this promotion would go hand in hand with the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC) membership.
" As a result of the succession of doping scandals that have affected it over the last few years, cycling has faced its responsabilities by understanding our sport may no longer exist if it didn't achieved to regain credibility with sponsors, race organizers and fans", Odriozola explains. Cycling managed to wake up thanks to the general awareness of its players but also an institutional and economic effort. However, care should be taken because there is no such thing as zero risk: we must remain vigilant. The rider's health still is the most important point as we commit to preserve it by refusing performance medicine. The MPCC being aimed at that goal, our team and our main sponsors agree to abide by its rules. "
Murias-Euskadi is one of the four Spanish professional teams registered by the UCI for the 2018 season. This is the first time a structure from Basque country reach this level of competition since Euskaltel-Euskadi closed down operations back in 2013. Contracted riders such as Jon Aberasturi, Garikoitz Bravo, Eduard Prades, Hector Saez, Enrique Sanz or Julien Loubet competed internationally in the past.
Year after year, more and more credibility in the Grand Tours peloton
Over the 12 last Grand Tours, the MPCC identified all of the riders that had previously been suspended for using banned products among the 198 riders at the start. It has now been more than 2 years that no rider from a MPCC team has been identified as one of those riders.
One of the most important articles from MPCC's internal regulation - that all the members commit to respect on a voluntary basis - is article 4:
MPCC teams agree not to enter riders, even in the case of a contract extension, who are convicted of (or deemed involved in) any anti-doping violation under Articles 2.1 to 2.8 of the World Anti-Doping Code, who were given a sanction of more than 6 months by the international court or national body (excluding penalties for three breaches of the ADAMS geolocation anti-doping administration and management system), within 2 years after the suspension or subject to a sanction for :
1. Abnormalities noted on the biological passport (or a violation of the biological passport regulations).
2. Damage to the image and credibility of cycling as previously defined.
(...) It is expressly agreed and accepted by the team members that in the event the rider is under contract, it will have to be terminated. The non-recruitment clause as provided in the part IV must be extensively implemented: the incriminated rider will no longer be part of the team during the 2-year period.
During the 2014 Giro d'Italia, 5 MPCC teams had lined up 6 riders that had previously faced doping sanctions. At that time, it wasn't forbidden by the internal regulation as the doping events had occurred before the teams' first MPCC commitment.
The movement's goal is to avoid this type of recruitment. Grand Tour after Grand Tour, year after year, we noticed that the MPCC teams progressively totally stopped having previously doped riders in their rosters for the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta - and, in the end, in their global rosters.
Member teams not only commit to respect a rule: they also believe in that rule. The MPCC President, Roger Legeay, explains that "a team could sign a rider 2 years and 1 day after the end of his suspension and it wouldn't be violating our rules. However, no team ever did that, their recruitment policies are flawless." As a consequence, the members have been demonstrating a zero tolerance policy for 5 years now. The MPCC manages to do what the IOC is trying to realize for Olympic Games participations.
At the opposite, some teams that aren't part of the MPCC keep having in their rosters riders who have faced doping suspensions in their career. Between 2014 and 2016, those riders were more and more every year, and this number only started decreasing this year. We still have to keep in mind that just before the start of each one of this year's 3 Grand Tours, positive controls have been announced. All of the riders involved were part of teams that weren't MPCC members. The fact that no MPCC team have been concerned by those events shows that MPCC teams are very careful about the identities of the riders they sign.
Grand Tours Infography since 2014 :
Sporting agent Christophe Le Mével (Cycling Life Management) joins the MPCC
The MPCC now numbers 6 sporting agents among its members as Christophe Le Mével (Cycling Life Management) recently decided to join the movement.
He declared on his Twitter account:
" Because I believe in a clean cycling, I'm glad to be part of the MPCC as a sporting agent. I embrace the values of this association. "
Christophe Le Mével is the 6th sporting agent to commit to our movement after Philippe Raimbaud, Michel Gros, Joona Laukka, Christian Baumer and Eelco Berkhout.
Over his 14-year professional rider career, Christophe Le Mével always competed in teams that were members of the MPCC: Crédit Agricole, FDJ, Garmin and Cofidis. He won a stage on the 2005 Giro d'Italia. In 2009, he achieved to enter the top-10 in three of the most important stage races of the season: Paris-Nice, Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de France.
As a member of the MPCC, a sporting agent commits not to defend the interests of riders that have been suspended for 6 months or more, or that have been subject to the opening of a proceeding as defined in the MPCC internal regulation.
WADA’s answer regarded as reckless by MPCC
Following an open letter on the 6th of October, MPCC regards the answer given by WADA as an outrage to its members and to the values they have been defending for 10 years now.
Every year the day before the official unveiling of the Tour de France, Movement for a Credible Cycling members had a meeting in Paris on this Monday, October 16th. As of today, 65% of first and second division teams in the world are members of the MPCC. The Movement takes great pride in seeing that its rules are being followed on a voluntary basis. One year ago, we were really proud to see that our members were fully committed to our values. The general spirit remains the same. This will to foster credibility in cycling has been even more remarkably noted on last October 6th, when the executive board members agreed to send an open letter to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This letter, among other subjects, reaffirmed our will to forbid the use of corticoids and tramadol. MPCC has been leading this fight for years now.
The answer MPCC received from WADA is regarded as reckless by the members of the movement.
Dear Mr Legeay,
Thank you for your letter of 5 October 2017.
WADA is well aware of the issues you raise related to glucocorticoids and Tramadol; regarding which, the Agency has been regularly consulting with experts and other stakeholders -- including the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
On the subject of glucocorticoids, please note that ...
Read the letter
Most of science articles around the world, as well as expert endocrinologists consulted by the MPCC claim that corticoids have a positive effect on performance. Though, M. Olivier Niggli, general director of WADA, claims in his answer to our open letter that “Scientific evidence indicates that the performance enhancing benefits of glucocorticoids are very narrow indeed; and that, for the most part, the use of glucocorticoids in sport is detrimental to performance”.
M. Olivier Niggli declared on March 8th 2017: “We have reached the point where we need to open a debate about corticoids”.The need for this debate seems to have faded for WADA.
MPCC also regrets that WADA “felt that [Tramadol] should not be prohibited” solely on the basis of “practical reasons”. To conclude, MPCC highlights the lack of answers regarding the aftermath of Operation Puerto. We consider that we have not received any answers to our questions.We don’t accept this answer, we rule it as incomprehensible and view it as an outrage to:
• Our athletes, who have seen their cortisol levels tested around 3000 times for 10 years, on a voluntary basis.
• Our physicians, who are fully convinced that our approach is the right one.
• Our loyal partners for numerous years
• All the members of our movement
We expect respect towards our commitments with scientific answers, not political ones. !
We grant an unconditional support to M. David Lappartient: the 45 professional teams who belong to the MPCC will collaborate to fulfill these two objectives.
During his campaign, two measures embraced MPCC’s philosophy:
• A minimum of eight days of rest in case of abnormal low cortisol levels
• Forbid the use of corticoids in competition as of January 1st 2019.
We grant an unconditional support to M. David Lappartient: the 45 professional teams who belong to the MPCC will collaborate to fulfill these two objectives. To this end, MPCC obviously wants to keep its seat in the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) as an observer.
Mechanical fraud: efficient and systematic checks
About the important topic of mechanical fraud, MPCC reaffirms that all the means necessary must be used, as well as all the technologies available. We need to stamp out suspicion, and every effort needs to be but in the public place to improve the image of our sport. On the biggest events, at the very least, MPCC requests systematic and thorough bike checks for every rider subject to an antidoping test (3 first riders and 2 random one, plus the GC leader for stage races).
Open letter to Wada
On this Friday 6 October 2017, MPCC's President Roger Legeay - and his Board - send an open letter to World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
OPEN LETTER TO WADA :
Dear Director general,
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Since the creation of the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), we have been warning continuously your agency regarding the issues of corticoids and we have been advising the prohibition of Tramadol since 2013. Ever since, we have faced those same answers that seem to be the political will included in the phrase: "wait and see". Indeed, your answers never change: "we are setting up a commission", "we will make the working group aware of that", "we keep on monitoring"….
Here is a quick reminder of what have happened since the MPCC creation in 2007.
• Until 2007, there was a health journal where were listed all the medicines that were prescribed to the riders, including the TUEs.
• When the MPCC was created, the movement checked the riders' health journals, thanks to an external medical expert.
• In 2007, this journal disappeared, which lead the MPCC to decide in 2008 that:
> In case of a corticoids infiltration, an eight days racing interruption would be prescribed to the rider in question.
> Unannounced blood cortisol test would be created with immediate racing stop in case of an abnormally low cortisol level.> At the same moment, an official request was addressed to the national and international associations to re-establish official rules regarding corticoids, particularly thanks to cortisol level testing.
Blood testing is regularly performed on riders belonging to MPCC teams, which represents 70% of the world peloton. For your information, up to date, the MPCC have performed 2953 tests and only 14 of them revealed an abnormally low cortisol level, only one in 2017. This was made possible thanks to the MPCC teams’ involvement. All the medical experts, including Anglo-Saxons, agree to say that a real health problem can appear in case of an abnormally low cortisol level. Endocrinologists who wrote on that subject issued views that confirmed this. We keep those views at your disposal.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
All the experts and chief doctors agree to say that an abnormally low cortisol level is dangerous for the athlete’s health in case crashes or high stress situations. International scientific literature confirms this risk. All of them notice and precise that an abnormally low cortisol level only can be provoked by an external corticoids intake, legal or not.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
This issue regarding the athlete’s health comes along with the verified observation – that your agency confirmed – that glucocorticoids are performance enhancing. The WADA medical commission for health and research president’s correspondence issued on the 8th of September of 2015 is particularly indicative about this matter. According to your agency, today’s issue is that it is impossible to determine if an intake has been realized legally or not when testing. You also say that the experts disagree on total prohibition. This isn’t an acceptable situation. We can’t accept that, even if you are aware that those products are performance enhancing drugs, you still authorize their intake while racing under certain terms.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Will we have to wait for a severe problem due to corticoids intake that would have provoked an abnormally low cortisol level to see your agency take the appropriate measures? On a voluntary basis, MPCC has now been realizing tests on the world’s greatest races for 10 years now. This proves that there is a solution which preserves what matters the most: the riders’ health.
Time has come for WADA to take essential – and definitive – decisions. We remind you of what you said during an interview on the 8th of March of 2017:
« WADA is considering to totally forbid corticoids, during competitions and out of competitions… This prohibition would make it harder to be granted a TUE. We have reached a point when we now must open a new debate. To me, the system isn’t good. »
As your statements from the 8th of March of 2017 confirm, we all know that the TUEs system generates terrible perverse effects. Some people use those effects to enhance their performance.
WE CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER, YOU AVE TO ACT
Since 2013, the MPCC has been drawing your attention – and UCI’s – on the issue regarding the use of a diverted medicine: TRAMADOL. This medicine, this product more precisely, is used to conceal pain. We all know that in sport, and particularly in cycling, using a medicine such as TRAMADOL to make pain disappear is a disguised performance enhancer.
Supported by medical experts, the college of professional cycling teams’ doctors and particularly MPCC members’ doctors have showed the existence of some very serious secondary effects which would justify the total prohibition of this drug. TRAMADOL is a level II analgesic with many dangerous secondary effects, especially for machine drivers’ athletes. Prescriptions with an analgesic objective create a strong dependency, even with therapeutic doses, weaning is difficult. MPCC member teams’ doctor committed not to use the TRAMADOL during races. Finally, last year, the UCI sent you a full record asking for the prohibition of TRAMADOL during competitions and your agency’s only answer was monitoring, “wait and see”.
ONCE AGAIN, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
According to our movement and our members, 10 years is a long time to wait for dealing with subjects about which everybody agrees on their importance, regarding the riders’ health or stating that those medicines are performance enhancing drugs. Your agency is an anti-doping agency which must take the necessary measures to preserve the riders’ and athletes’ health. Third element of WADA’s missions, Health isn’t considered and WADA’s responsibility is committed.
I take this opportunity to ask questions about judicial consequences of the PUERTO case? What is WADA’s point of view?
Once more, cycling hasn’t been dealt with in the same way than all the other sports, particularly in this case. Whereas, let’s remind that, all of the world’s athletes are submitted to the same rules and sanctions with the list of forbidden products being almost the same.
WE CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER, WE ARE TIRED
Convicted by the validity of our remarks and of our repeated requests and waiting for your answer, Best regards,
Quick Overview : Cortisol and Tramadol :
2017/09/16 Press Release
The Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC) held a meeting of its Board this Friday, September 15 in Roissy.
The MPCC asked the two candidates for the Presidency of the UCI Brian Cookson and David Lappartient to answer a set of questions related to central concerns of the movement. We wanted to thank them for their clear answers as we are pleased with their willingness to continue working with the MPCC. We also noted their wish to amend corticosteroids and tramadol regulations, within the athlete's health framework but also the antidoping one.
Mr Brian Cookson's LETTER :
Cher Roger,
Je vous remercie pour votre courrier du 17 juillet dernier qui a retenu toute mon attention.
Comme vous le savez, la crédibilité de notre sport reste mon principal engagement envers les acteurs du cyclisme, dont le MPCC fait partie et avec qui j’ai eu le plaisir de travailler à travers votre présence au sein du Conseil du Cyclisme Professionnel.
Pendant ces quatre dernières années, l’UCI a...
Read the full letter (only received in french)
MR David Lappartient's LETTER :
Dear Mr. President, Dear Roger,
I confirm I have received your letter dated 17 July 2017 and sent to the two candidates for the UCI 2017 Presidential election.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate your association for its commitment to support the respect of the code of ethics in cycling. Alongside the work done by the UCI, for many years now the MPCC has made tremendous contribution to the improvement of road racing. The manner by which your association has been able to bring various teams to work together on this matter is commendable.
Axe 5 of my presidential candidature manifesto for the UCI....
Read the full letter
In addition,
About the important subject of the technological fraud, the MPCC insists that all the means available and all possible technologies must be systematically deployed to result in less suspicion. All of these efforts must benefit from a better publicity to the general public to promote a better image of our sport. The MPCC proposes to inspect the bicycle of all the riders also submitted to the antidoping post-race protocol, a minima on the main events (3 first riders, 2 other random riders and the leader jersey holder).
After reviewing the implementation of its internal regulation, the Board is pleased that all the members met their commitment in 2017.
The Board decided to add to its internal regulation a paragraph on acts of racism or homophobia as unethical behaviours.
A few weeks before next Giro d'Italia's route presentation, the MPCC reiterates its wish to see all the grand tour organizers grant wild cards only to movement's members.