Volksbank joins MPCC

Team Volksbank is the 12th team to join the MPCC, the 'Movement for a Credible Cycling'. "I am extremely happy, that we can take this step and could convince the MPCC that our efforts in the fight against doping are absolutely restrictive, with no holes and serious, that we are totally dedicated to the clean future of cycling," said team manager Thomas Kofler. "This goal has absolute top priority for us at Team Volksbank and can only be reached when we all work together, with the elite circle of the MPCC."

The Austrian Professional Continental team will now introduce the biological passport. That involves twelve annual unannounced controls, both urine and blood, and requires the riders to report their whereabouts three months in advance.

Kofler noted proudly that Volksbank was one of the few cycling teams in which no rider or other team member had ever been involved in a doping affair. All of the riders have signed the UCI's "Commitment to a new cycling". In addition to the UCI and WADA requirements, the team said it would develop its own internal controls. The honour is not cheap, though - the team estimated that it would cost more than 80,000 Euros.

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In announcing the team's acceptance, the MPCC said that it greeted the candidature of the team. "Team Volksbank says that it shares the philosophy and engagement of the Movement, and will respect its code of ethics."

(Additional reporting and research provided by Susan Westemeyer.)