Velobs

The tramadol debate

The MPCC has been militating for tramadol in-competition ban over several years. Let's shed light on the problems raised by this medication.

Tramadol is a strong painkiller causing a lot of undeniable side-effects such as dizziness wich affects the security of the rider who have received the treatment but also of his opponents around him in a peloton. This potent drug is not to be regarded as able to enhance the performance, but without a doubt it induces a misperception of the pain that will eventually impact the athlete's health.

MPCC-teams' physicians have committed not to prescribe tramadol to their riders. Androni Giocattoli's Dr Maurizio Vicini goes deeper: "I never use tramadol, even for classic medicine, because of the bad side-effects it creates!" The movement, like the UCI, has repeatedly called on WADA to add tramadol on the list of prohibited substances. The agency agreed to include tramadol in its monitoring program but still refuses to go for it by banning this medicine.

As Cofidis' Dr Arthur Molique explains, the recovery of the athlete is a stake as the tramadol issue may not be confined to the ban debate. "With the augmentation of the race constraints - races that finish late, long transfers -, massages and dinner times have to be delayed", he says. The use of sleep medicines raises a problem with the rider's sleep, a key element in the recovery process on a stage race.

During the meeting held on 17 October 2016, the MPCC-team physicians expressed a concern about organization's workmates which are often keen to use tramadol to treat a rider requesting the race medical assistance. That's why the MPCC calls on the AIOCC to ensure its race physicians will stop prescribing tramadol to the riders.

While expecting a favourable response (i.e. to obtain from the WADA the ban of tramadol in competition), MPCC physicians maintain their commitment not to prescribe this medication to their riders.

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Should corticoids use be forbidden?

The corticoids' subject has always been key to the MPCC. 10 years after its inception, the movement continues to fight for changing perceptions on that topic.

Benoit Vaugrenard's words are powerful as his speech summarizes the general feeling of the riders about corticoids. "Let's ban it! Period. This sport still doesn't know how to deal with this problem. I'm sure some riders keep playing an ambiguity game. We should have banned it a long time ago!" They all are aware of something, as Samuel Dumoulin puts it: "This is a major debate". On many medical issues, opinions differ for cultural reasons. These divergences prevent our sport from reaching a consensus on this type of question that need to be clarified.

Within the MPCC, a team member commit to put to rest a rider if his cortisol level is under the standard limit. Consultant physician of the MPCC, Dr. Armand Mégret keeps saying that "there is a major sanitary decompensation risk, a mortal risk." Dr Arthur Molique, team Cofidis physician, supports that riders have realized "our rules are implemented firstly in order to preserve their health." Their comments are based on surveys of endocrinologist experts, as the MPCC always has.

In the event of a low cortisol level, the MPCC-team doesn't put the question of knowing if the cortisone use was licit or illicit: the rider doesn't take part in the competition anyway. In some of these cases in the past, a few teams turned their back on the commitment they made by leaving the movement instead of apply its rules.

However, Dr Arthur Molique is categoric about both the dangers that arise when a rider practices his sport with a low cortisol level and the impact of this medication on performance: "We know that corticoids have exhilarating effects, they are strong anti-inflammatory drugs, they create stimulating and psycho-stimulating effects. Then there is no need to prove that they can be performance enhancing molecules anymore. At least considering all of the uses that don't fit to right medical practices."

For all those reasons, the MPCC keeps asking the UCI and WADA a common cortisone regulation for the 11th year of its existence. In September 2013, this was one of the points the movement warned the candidates for the President of the UCI about. Some of the recommandations have since been implemanted: the principle of team suspension in case of several positive doping tests and the increasement of the duration of penalties for doping.

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« We tend to professionalize women cycling »

Doctor Philippe Rolland, physician of the FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope team, explains to the MPCC why women's team can't follow the exact same rules than men's teams.

Several women's teams are part of the members of the MPCC : UnitedHealthcare, Tibco, Sunweb, Rally, Lotto-Soudal and FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope.

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What measures MPCC members abide by?

On a voluntary basis, a MPCC team commit to respect several rules, stricter than those implemented by the international bodies. Do you know all of them?

Every member team of the Movement for a Credible Cycling perfectly knows the internal regulations of the Movement, that she commits to respect during the whole time of its membership. As the MPCC president, Roger Legeay insists on an essential point: “We are not talking about sanctions. This is a volunteer approach”.

In our video, he explains what are the principle measures and raises a very MPCC specific point: team introspection. When a team faces 2 positive controls in less than 12 months, it has to stop racing for a week (3 weeks if there are 3 positive controls in less than 2 years).

Obviously, such a situation isn’t desirable. However, when it happens, being a faithful to his commitments MPCC member perfectly makes sense. Indeed, this introspection time makes it possible to take time to find solutions. Part of the MPCC rules since the creation of the Movement, this principal has recently been taken up by the UCI. However, the instance can’t make it systematic because the UCI acts with sanctions and not on a voluntary basis, at the opposite of the MPCC.

Here are the rules that the MPCC members commit to respect:

You will find the whole MPCC internal regulations here.

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MPCC sponsors involved in the future of cycling

The credibility of cycling not only depends on such topics as riders' health or the fight against doping. That's the message a dozen sponsors with a widespread international presence wanted to convey in a MPCC meeting held early this month in Paris. The representatives of these companies that invest in our sport call on their alter egos to join the movement to express their vision on the future of cycling: as proven by recent debates on the professional cycling reform, the MPCC remains the body you can have the most constructive discussions with.

 On December 6th, the MPCC College of sponsors
met in Paris on the initiative of the movement's President Roger Legeay.

To date, 10 companies into a sponsoring partnership with professional cycling are part of the MPCC. Half of them have been loyal to cycling for more than 20 years.

The membership of these companies is alrealdy translated into very concrete actions:

> To embrace the philosophy of the MPCC (i.e. to promote the image of cycling by fighting against doping and all other forms of cheating)

> Not to hire riders or staff suspended in the past for communication purposes (commercials, PR, consulting)

The representatives of the sponsors also volunteer their services to enhance the communications of the movement.

During this meeting, the sponsor members stated the credibility of cycling not only depends on such topics as rider's health or fight against doping anymore. Our attention now should be also paid to the control of the financial (money laundering, risks of corruption related to sports betting services) and technical aspects (technological fraud) - not forgetting the riders and spectators safety. The representatives ask the MPCC to consider new forms of commitment in those areas.

As members of the MPCC, the companies investing in our sport call on their alter egos (sponsors, race organizers) to join the movement. The call is also addressed to the bicycle industry which needs to be highly credible to face technological fraud suspicions.

The representatives attending the meeting lamented that the UCI did not think it was worth inviting them to join the professional cycling reform discussions. They also noted this new deal was still to be shaped only a few weeks before the beginning of the next season. That's why the sponsor members wanted to thank the movement. They see the MPCC as the only professional cycling stakeholder that is actually willing to fully involve them and take their wishes and expectations about the future of cycling into consideration.

The sponsors also expressed their satisfaction to see the double world champion Peter Sagan now carrying the colours of Bora, a company committed to the MPCC since early 2015.

At the meeting's conclusion, the College of sponsors renewed its confidence to Rodolphe Boulinguez (Responsible for Cycling Programs - FDJ) and Marc Frederix (Marketing Director - Belgian Lottery) as Board members.

by Velobs