Team Sky and British Cycling must join the sport’s voluntary anti-doping group to have any chance of restoring their credibility, according to the president of the Movement for Credible Cycling.
Almost two-thirds of teams in pro cycling’s top two divisions are members, which has strict rules on the use of cortisone and tramadol, the substances at the heart of controversy over governance within the two British bodies.
Asked directly if he felt Sky should join up to restore their image, Roger Legeay said: “Becoming part of the Mouvement pour un Cyclisme Crédible would be good, obviously. We want all teams to join the MPCC. Our rules are very strict but that is a price you pay for having a good image. There are no polemics, we are a voluntary organisation, so teams are free to join or not. It’s their choice but I’m certain it’s best for image and credibility.”
Legeay’s group has received strong backing from the Tour de France organisers recently. The MPCC carries out tests to counter cortisone use, with riders made to rest if their values are outside parameters deemed unhealthy, and with an eight-day window in which riders are not permitted to compete after a cortisone injection.
Had Sky been part of the MPCC, Bradley Wiggins would not have been able to have a cortisone injection shortly before the 2012 Tour de France, even with a therapeutic use exemption, because of the eight-day rule imposed by the MPCC since its inception in 2007.
While making it clear there was no implication of wrongdoing around the triple Tour winner Chris Froome, Legeay said: “If he had been tested twice by us during the Tour de France, that would give his results more credibility. And I would like British Cycling to join us. I hope they do so, in order to show the journalists and public that they want to do more.”
The national federations of Switzerland, France, Germany and Belgium are among MPCC members.
Team Sky have consistently stated that they would not join the MPCC because they prefer not to be part of a group that covers only a certain number of teams while they have a stricter zero-tolerance stance on riders and staff with doping pasts.
However, the team’s governance has been called into question by the revelations that they acquired 55 doses of the corticosteroid triamcinolone. They have not yet been able to account for all of them, partly owing to incomplete record‑keeping by their former doctor Richard Freeman. The team have stated their confidence there has been no wrongdoing by riders or staff.
“I don’t want to judge anyone nor accuse anyone,” Legeay said, “but what I will say is we have brought in strict rules on tramadol and corticosteroids. Today, the suspicion in England is centred around those two substances. The two topics on the table in England are the ones we deal with.
“Suspicion is the problem and there is no such issue if you join the MPCC. If you do tests internally, that’s fine, but no one can see what you are doing. As a member of the MPCC it’s all transparent.”
Meanwhile Sport England, which distributes public and Lottery money to grassroots sport, has warned British Cycling that it will withhold £17.3m of funding until it is confident that it has the highest standards of governance in place. The decision follows the leak of a draft version of the Cycling Independent Review (CIR), which called into “serious question whether the composition of the British Cycling board is fit to govern a national sporting body”.
Nick Bitel, Sport England’s chair, said: “The current draft CIR report raises concerns about decision-making within that governing body and we decided that more work on their action plan was required. We will need to consider the final report, and a more developed version of British Cycling’s action plan on governance, before our board makes a decision about any additional requirements we might put in place. We anticipate this position being reached within the next month.
“We need to ensure that all sports organisations that receive public funding meet the highest standards of governance and we will continue to support the sector to achieve this.”
