In an infography, we have represented the Tour de France 2016 peloton, distinguishing member teams and non-member teams of MPCC. Amongst member teams, no riders have ever been suspended. Within non-members, 6 already have !
With the Olympic Games starting soon, efforts are being made so that former convicted riders don’t take part in the national squads in Rio. The Tour de France does not follow the same pattern.
The spirit of Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC) is to regroup teams which on a voluntary basis define stricter rules than international organizations. Amongst those, this one : « Dont hire riders involved in doping cases and condemned for more than 6 months, except no-shows, in the two years following the suspension. »
The start list of a race like the Tour de France highlights those differences. Six riders on the starting line in the Manche have been suspended in the past. Five of them were rehired as soon as their suspensions expired.
Rider 1 : two-year suspension, reintegrated in his team as soon as the suspension expired
Rider 2 : two-year suspension, reintegrated in his team as soon as the suspension expired
Rider 3 : one-year suspension, reintegrated in his team as soon as the suspension expired
Rider 4 : one-year retroactive suspension, remained in his team
Rider 5 : suspended in the U23 category, recruited 4 years after his suspension
Rider 6 : two-year retroactive suspension, remained in his team
Within the eleven teams members of the MPCC participating in the Tour de France 2016, there is not a single rider who has been suspended before. Not only the members commit to the rule of not recruiting this particular type of riders during two years after their suspension, they also extend this rule beyond the required two years.
At the start of the Tour de France, there is a major difference between members and MPCC and non-members. Members commit to rest a rider if his blood sample indicates an abnormal cortisol level – i.e. not letting him participate in the race. This year, not a single team had to face this issue. Had it occurred, the concerned team could have made a substitution: with the advice of MPCC, UCI now authorizes last-minute replacements for medical reasons.
As a reminder, since the beginning of the year, MPCC has supervised 145 cortisol level controls (3 did-not-start riders). 180 samples have been taken at the beginning of the Giro and the Tour de France (0 did-not-start riders), and 155 during the French National Championships (2 did-not-start riders). This amounts to a total of 480 controls.
