Last Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta featured in Barcelona thirteen teams that are members of the MPCC. As in the Tour de France, nine WorldTour team members and four ProTeams have taken the start of the race.
Fifty-three riders entered in the race last week, as individual members. This is roughly the same figure as that of the Grande Boucle, at the end of June.
The MPCC would like to pay tribute to the long-standing commitment of Caja Rural – Seguros RGA. The team managed by Juan Manuel Hernandez was one of the first ProTeams (formerly Continental Pro) to join us ten years ago. The other Spanish invited team, Burgos-BH, also committed to MPCC, in 2018, two years before being promoted to second division.
It should also be pointed out that the four Spanish ProTeams (Burgos-BH, Caja Rural – Seguros RGA, Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi) are all members of our movement. This is a sign of the determination of Iberian structures to restore credibility to cycling’s supporters and audience.
Of the 176 riders who started the Vuelta, only one has been suspended in the past – this rider is not part of a MPCC team. The movement is thus reiterating its teams’ commitment, not to recruit any riders who have been involved in doping cases for which they have been suspended for more than six months.