The Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) has accused former member teams Astana, Katusha and Lampre-Merida of joining the group out of mere “opportunism."
In a statement issued on Friday following a meeting of its board of directors, the MPCC has also asked the UCI to increase the minimum ban for technological fraud from six months to four years, and called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to add corticosteroids and tramadol to the list of banned substances.
Some five WorldTour teams – Katusha, Lampre-Merida, Astana, LottoNL-Jumbo and Orica-GreenEdge – have left the MPCC in the past 12 months, meaning that just seven of cycling’s top flight remain committed to the body’s additional rules, which include testing for cortisol levels and a pledge not to field riders who are using corticosteroids for therapeutic reasons.
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The five teams were all among the large intake of new members in the winter of 2012-2013, an influx that coincided with organisers group AIOCC announcing its commitment to prioritising MPCC members when handing out wildcard invitations to races.
Katusha only applied for MPCC membership in January 2013, after it had initially been excluded from the WorldTour due to concerns over its ethical record and while its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on the matter was still pending.
Lampre-Merida, Katusha and Astana each cited a lack of compatibility between UCI and MPCC regulations as they left the voluntary body, a claim dismissed by the MPCC in its statement on Friday.
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