Anti-doping group gains further support
The Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible [Movement for a Credible Cycling/MPCC] continues to gain interest with an additional two teams now joining the list of those hoping to become official members early next year.
Team Colombia and the OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling team are the latest to apply to the anti-doping group, joining the American Pro Continental team Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies, the Norwegian Plussbank team, Italy’s Bardiani CSF Inox, the French BigMat Auber 93 and La Pomme Marseille teams in the queue for approval.
The existing twelve members will vote on their applications at the next general meeting, which will be held on February 17th.
The Astana team had previously indicated that it was considering joining but it appears that an application has still not been lodged by the squad.
Teams who sign up are bound by a stricter anti-doping code than is currently followed by WADA and the UCI. The addition requirements are that members should:
– No longer allow a rider race when he has an initial positive test.
– Not sign up a rider who has a suspension of more than six months [with the exception of whereabouts cases] for a period of two years after the suspension.
– Not give corticoid injections without imposing a break from competition of eight days.
– Carry out internal procedures from the first positive case on a team.
– Should suspend themselves automatically following several positive cases in a twelve month period.
A total of eleven teams are currently part of the MPCC, namely WorldTour teams AG2R La Mondiale, Garmin-Sharp, Lotto-Belisol and Francaise des Jeux, plus Argos Shimano, Bretagne Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, Iam, Netapp and Sojasun.
Counting the newest applicants named today, there are a total of seven additional teams hoping to be part of the MPCC in 2013. Former Crédit Agricole boss Roger Legeay heads the movement.