The MPCC was founded in 2007 as a reaction to the multiple doping scandals of that year's Tour de France. The member teams pledge to adhere to stricter standards than those required by current sporting governance.
These rules include not hiring riders who have served doping suspensions longer than six months, excluding those due to whereabouts violations, and limiting the use of corticosteroids.
Late last year, the race organizers' association AIOCC decided it would give MPCC members priority in the allocation of wild card invitations to their events.
Should Katusha fail in its bid to overturn the UCI's decision on its WorldTour application, and accept a lesser, Pro Continental status, it would rely solely on wild card invitations for entry to the sport's major events.
New Katusha manager Viatcheslav Ekimov stated that the team is applying to the MPCC for membership to, "Demonstrate to our full commitment to the struggle of any anti-doping measures", "to give guidance to all further top Katusha team members concerning personal behavior and the general struggle of doping", and "to most meet the actual requirements as set by various tour operators and / or organizers".
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Katusha joins Astana, Lampre-Merida, Blanco, Crelan-Euphony, Bardiani-CSF, La Pomme Marseille, Big Mat-Auber 93 and Novo Nordisk as applicants. Already members are AG2R La Mondiale, Argos-Shimano, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, FDJ, Garmin-Sharp, the Swiss IAM Cycling project, Lotto Belisol, NetApp and Saur Sojasun. The MPCC today provisionally accepted Vacansoleil-DCM into its ranks.
