Women cycling teams are part of MPCC since 2013. The first were members as affiliates of their male counterparts, then exclusively women’s teams followed their lead which now allow MPCC to rely on seven members: Liv-Plantur, Lotto-Soudal, Optum, Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope 86, Tibco, Topsport Vlaanderen and United Healthcare.
These women’s teams must abide by the exact same commitment as men’s teams but until now, none of them has never encountered a single doping case. Recent cases into women cycling (1 in 2015, 1 in 2014) all involved teams which were not members of MPCC. However, some players of the discipline, such as Danny Schoonbaert – Lotto-Soudal Ladies General Director – warn that antidoping tests are rare, and points out that his riders have not been subject to any control during the last Giro d’Italia, the main race of their sporting calendar.
During its last meeting and for the very first time, MPCC’s Board of Directors adopted the principle of cortisol level tests on women team members. But as a first step, MPCC’s doctors representatives Servaas Bingé and Guillaume Sarre as well as the medical consultant of the movement Armand Mégret, will study the physiological and hormonal frameworks to make it happen.
Interview with Danny Schoonbaert, Lotto-Soudal Ladies General Director :
Interview with Pascale Jeuland, Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope 86 rider :