Rabobank, Lampre tentatively approved for MPCC membership

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The Movement for Credible Cycling has provisionally approved six teams for membership, including WorldTour teams Lampre-Merida and Rabobank. The final decision will be made at the group's next general meeting in February.

The other teams are Team Type 1 Sanofi (to be known as Novo Nordisk in the coming year),  Verandas Willems and Crelan-Euphony (formerly Landbouwkrediet), all Professional Continental, as well as the Norwegian Continental team Oster Hus-Ridler.

Founded in 2007, the MPCC imposes stricter anti-doping measures on its members that go beyond the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, including additional testing to combat the use of corticosteroids.  The 14 current members include AG2R La Mondiale, Argos-Shimano, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, FDJ and Garmin-Sharp.

The international race organisers' association, the AIOCC, last month agreed to give priority to MPCC member teams when distributing wildcard invitations to races.

Astana has also expressed interest in membership, but has not yet made its final decision.

Lampre is facing the possibility of 31 current and past staff members and riders facing doping charges for their links to pharmacist and coach Guido Nigrelli. The team has reorganised its management, with the team manager saying “We're all at the point of no return.”

The Rabobank team expects to ride as a “white label” team in the coming year as the bank decided to end its 17-year sponsorship, citing doping and the sport's bad reputation.