11 teams now part of strict anti-doping organisation
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Belgian ProTeam Lotto Belisol is having a stellar time at its national Tour courtesy of German sprinter Andre Greipel.(Image credit: AFP)
The back of the Lotto Belisol bus(Image credit: Susi Goetze)
Lars Bak leads the Lotto Belisol Team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Lotto Belisol team has confirmed it has joined the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible group –the group created in 2007 by several teams to take a strict stance against doping in professional cycling.
Members of the MPCC agree not to sign riders who have been suspended for doping, to control the use of corticoid injections and immediately suspend riders from racing if they fail an anti-doping control.
Lotto Belisol joins Ag2r La Mondiale, Bretagne- Schuller, Cofidis, Team Europcar, FDJ, Garmin-Sharp and Argos-Shimano. Other recent additions to the MPCC include the new teams include Swiss IAM, Netapp and Sojasun. The MPCC is headed by former Credit Agricole team manager Roger Legeay and is supported by influential team managers such as Jonathan Vaughters of Garmin-Sharp and Marc Madiot of FDJ.
Under the auspice of Tour de France organiser ASO, all the major teams attended a special open meeting in Paris the day before the recent Tour de France route presentation, including Lotto Belisol manager Marc Sergeant.
"We want to give a signal, to make a sort of statement, Sergeant said in a statement from the Belgian team.
"Lotto Belisol wants to cooperate properly, think along and participate in the new movement. In the past there was only a minority that openly wanted to be involved in the new way of thinking; I think we should strive for a majority."
"I think the time for words should be over, and that it's time they're transformed into actions. When you see the reactions some riders in the peloton, I am convinced that the present generation is doing things right. The introduction of the biological passport, among other things, has been important for it to happen."
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The Lotto Belisol team accepted the important role that major teams can play in taking a stance against doping.
"With its history in cycling, the opportunities the team offers to young riders, the attention for guidance and education and the will to be part of the WorldTour as an ethically correct team." the statement reads.
"Lotto Belisol thinks it's a must to be rather a pioneer than a follower in an era in which cycling is in need of positive signals."
