MPCC warns the UCI over the growing medicalization of cycling and demands measures against the 'grey zone'

On the 22nd of December, the MPCC (Movement for Credible Cycling) relayed to the UCI its growing concern over what it sees as excessive medicalization in professional cycling. In its statement, the organization warns of rising use of medicines and treatments that are not banned by WADA but raise serious ethical questions when applied to healthy athletes rather than the patients they were designed for.

According to the MPCC, an association that essentially brings together a number of professional cycling teams to fight doping, this situation endangers both the sport’s credibility and the peloton’s health.

A central point is criticism of the slow pace of anti-doping and regulatory processes. The MPCC believes lengthy investigations, without clear provisional measures, allow new substances to be debated each year while riders keep using them despite lingering questions about performance impact or health risks. The organization asks whether it would be wiser to temporarily ban a product during investigation and allow it only once proven safe.

The statement uses ketones as the clearest example of this “grey area.” Since 2017, when the first scientific studies appeared, the debate has been present in cycling. The MPCC recalls that its members took an early stance against their use, while the UCI took almost two years to issue a non-use recommendation that many teams and riders ignored, even signing commercial deals with ketone suppliers.

The MPCC also flags other potential abuses, such as rumours around the so-called “finishing bottle,” or the use of powerful medicines like tapentadol, stronger than tramadol. Although the UCI has some of these substances under monitoring, the movement argues it cannot wait indefinitely while riders’ health is at stake. It therefore urges the UCI to take a clear, regulated stance on products in the grey zone and reiterates its willingness to work proactively to safeguard cycling’s future.

Rumours about the so-called “finishing bottle” have resurfaced in the peloton, with multiple borderline substances allegedly mixed and handed out to prime riders for race finales. Alongside this, there is the risk of other abuses with medicines such as tapentadol, up to ten times more potent than tramadol, which was banned in competition by WADA after 12 years of MPCC pressure. The UCI now has this substance under watch, but must we await another lengthy review while riders’ health is at risk and crashes are becoming more frequent?