Abolish the MPCC



Last Saturday riders from 13 teams were tested for cortisol levels on the morning of Stage 7 of the Dauphiné. It’s part of their membership of the MPCC, the Movement for Credible Cycling. The group’s become laughing stock for some recently and teams are pulling out fast at the moment too. But the guarantees it brings riders and their health is no joke. In fact it’s so good the UCI needs to adopt its rules to the leter.

Medical primer: Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands which sit on top of your kidneys. When confronted with a shock these glands produce adrenalin but also cortisol in response to the stress. Skimming the medicine it has two effects, one is anti-inflammatory and the other is to help the body access more energy. When someone starts taking big doses of cortisone the adrenal gland stops producing the natural cortisol. So low cortisol levels can be indicative of cortisone use, whether doping or approved cortisone use by a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). It can also signal a health problem, perhaps a disease or a concern with the adrenal glands so it’s good to stop them in any case. If the rider were to, say, crash then the body would respond by producing cortisol for the inflammation but a rider with low levels would not and therefore the body’s natural ability to recover is endangered. This is particularly worrying in the case of a head injury where the body cannot produce its own anti-inflammation response to a cranial injury. The MPCC also has a rule that anyone needing a local injection of cortisone for medical reasons has to take eight days of rest, ie there’s no chance of a TUE.

All together this test is a great idea, it flags up health concerns and comes in handy for anyone taking a knock to the head. It acts as deterrent for those looking to dabble with cortisone and also ensures those who need it for medical reasons get the rest they need to rather than racing on. It’s exactly what the UCI should be incorporating.

Exodus

Still, the test is not for everyone. Bardiani-CSF walked out after one of their riders was tested with low cortisol levels and told to rest but the team started him nevertheless. In a weasel-word open letter they blamed a mix-up over the rules but the MPCC says they made the rules clear to them by email. So the team has quit in a huff, one of those “you’re fired“, “no you can’t fire me, I’m resigning moments“.

Lotto-Jumbo walked out on the MPCC recently citing disagreements with cortisol testing in their press release, in part saying the test wasn’t accurate but also that the obligation to withdraw a rider was damaging from an image point of view. Certainly it places a question mark over the rider but this can be answered with further tests and having a replacement rider on stand-by could help solve the 11th hour problem of losing a rider. If anything Lotto-Jumbo quit because they wanted a series of cortisol tests to measure a rider’s levels rather than depend on one datapoint and the team say they “will continue to disperse the MPCC’s standpoints” which presumably translates as support the ideas in general.

Another idea from the MPCC is the Tramadol ban, all member teams say this powerful opiate is for medical use and should not be given to riders for racing. There’s more on Tramadol in this past piece: Tramdol, April 2014 but the MPCC want it banned outright in the sport. It’s on WADA’s monitor list so it is testing for stats purposes and apparently quite a few cyclists come back positive. Like cortisone if there is a clinical need for this medicine then take it but don’t race; just as people on Tramadol are not allowed to operate machinery.

There’s precedent here with the MPCC policy of no-needles being adopted by the UCI. The MPCC had a rule saying teams should not use injections or infusions, even for vitamins and the UCI has copied it too. There’s more too with the UCI anti-doping code for 2015 allowing collective punishment against entire teams if they have multiple doping offences. It’s not the copy of the MPCC “auto suspension ” but it is close.

The Problem

The problem with the MPCC is that it is a voluntary, self-regulatory body. It has rules which are set by member teams but there’s no law behind it nor a governing body with its legitimacy and rulebook as backup. It means it’s only as strong as its members want it to be and with some teams bailing out when the going gets tough like Lampre-Merida, Bardiani-CSF and Lotto-Jumbo and others stay like Astana but mock everyone over their self-suspension and the Iglinskiy brothers. With members like this it’s going to look weak. But all this is problematic because of the teams, the joke is on them when they try to game the rules. Mock the MPCC for its lame ability to herd the teams and you’re probably mocking the teams.

A Solution

The answer is for the UCI to put the MPCC out of business. Not by a new rule nor a back room deal. Instead it could openly adopt the MPCC stance on cortisone use, cortisol testing and the Tramadol ban. This means going beyond the WADA Code but that’s ok. As mentioned above the UCI has already done this with its no needle policy.

Conclusion

It’s easy to mock the politics but health, whether it’s low cortisol levels and the risk of head injury or the pledge to scrap Tramadol is good stuff and we should praise and support it rather than mock it. Of course it would be easier if the MPCC had more authority rather than being the reflection of its often inconsistent membership.

The best of both worlds is possible. Closer regulation and health monitoring when it comes to cortisone and cortisol and a Tramadol ban is all good. Couple this with the UCI as the governing body and therefore the authority to impose rules rather than arbitrate between volunteer members and you have the grounds for a healthier sport, especially as it could apply to all teams rather than just a few. Once the MPCC rules are folded into the UCI the job is done and the MPCC can be abolished.