In 2019, 91% of the wild cards were given to teams belonging to MPCC. In 2020, this figure rose again, reaching 94%. 100% remains the objective.
At the end of each season, MPCC delivers an infographic to sum up the choices made by the World Tour races regarding wild cards. This infographic aims at showing whether the wild cards were granted to MPCC teams or not.
In 2019, 91% of the World Tour wild cards were granted to MPCC teams. There are usually 3 or 4 wild cards on stage races, and up to 11 on one-day races. This percentage is already a success, but the movement is still aiming at 100% for all these organizers. Reaching this objective would be a great reward for our strong commitment, on a voluntary basis, to stricter ethical rules.
In 2020, the proportion of MPCC teams climbed up to 94% from 91% last year. The World Tour organizers never stopped trusting the Continental Pro members of our movement, and we can only be glad for that. Let’s point out that 97 fewer wild cards granted due to unplanned race cancellations and because the number of World Tour teams went from 18 to 19.
The movement regrets the fact that not all the Grand Tour wild cards went to MPCC teams, contrary to last year when the objective was reached. Once again, RCS Sport, the organizers of the Giro d’Italia, granted one wild card to a non-MPCC team – with one rider of said team tested positive to Enobosarm, a substance forbidden by WADA, on this year’s Giro d’Italia. The movement also notes that Milan – San Remo and Il Lombardia, two Monuments, followed the same path. These two races fall under the responsibility of RCS Sport. MPCC is fully aware that it cannot enforce the choice of the wild cards by an organizer which is not part of the movement. However, MPCC reckons that restraining these wild cards to MPCC members would be a strong signal for the credibility of cycling.
MPCC wishes to underline the strong and remarkable commitment of numerous organizers. Together, they strengthen the credibility of our sport. It is quite a shame that all the other organizers do not follow the same path knowing that the future of cycling relies strongly on this. As usual, MPCC makes the same strong wish: to see all of the 2021 wilds cards delivered to teams belonging to the movement and encourages teams and federations which are still not part of the movement to commit to stricter rules.
In 2020, 17 of the 19 Continental Pro teams, the ones eligible for World Tour wild cards, were part of the MPCC. The two non-members were Uno-X Norwegian Development Team et Vini Zabu KTM.
