One day after the announcement of an agenda that includes new anti-doping measures, the MPCC praises the UCI and its president Mr. David Lappartient for the strong decisions taken towards the credibility of cycling.
The Management Committee of the UCI has included in the medical field of its Agenda 2022 measures that will be implemented starting January 1st 2019:
– Cortisol controls leading to a minimum of eight days off work and competition in case of an anomaly
– Obligation to declare local infiltrations of glucocorticoids, leading to a minimum of eight days off work and competition.
– Tramadol ban
After 10 years of inertia on these topics on the World Anti-Doping Agency side, the MPCC congratulate the UCI and its president Mr. David Lappartient for the strong decision taken towards the credibility of cycling. The MPCC would also like to thank the managers, the riders and the doctors of the teams belonging to the movement, as they committed to these rules as soon as they joined. Together, they showed that a strict approach of the corticoids and the tramadol problem, on a voluntary basis, was possible, and they convinced the authorities to modify the rules of our sport.
Since MPCC was created, 3207 cortisol tests have been carried out by the movement. These tests will continue for the rest of the 2018 season. The movement reserves the right to keep carrying out these test in 2019 if its members consider that it is necessary to complement the UCI’s scheme to come. There are currently 7 teams out of 18 in the World Tour that are part of the MPCC, along with 24 Continental Pro, 8 Continental and 6 Women teams. Besides, 207 riders (male and females) are now members of the MPCC as individuals, less than 4 months after the individual membership has been made possible at the beginning of March.
Nevertheless, the MPCC asks again to the WADA, as an international independent organisation:
– To add Tramadol on the Prohibited List
– To confirm the principle of an automatic provisional suspension in the event of a positive or abnormal control
– To confirm the competition stoppage in case of glucocorticoids intake
In the meantime, the MPCC and its members will keep on committing to stricter rules than WADA’s ones, on a voluntary basis:
– Provisional suspension in case of abnormal or positive control
– Termination of contract when a rider is suspended for more than 6 months
– No signing of a rider that has been suspended for more than 6 months
– Introspection period (No competition for 8 days) for a team with two positive controls in the last 12 months, except if the UCI has already applied the same sanction.
All the teams, riders, organizers, national federations, sponsors who share the values of the MPCC are of course welcome to become members of the movement. The rules of the MPCC, applied on a voluntary basis, are a vital complement to the fight against doping and remain an essential tool for the credibility of cycling.