Roger LeGay, president of the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), denied that Tom Dumoulin left the MPCC, saying the Dutchman did not cite the MPCC's stance on ketones as the reason when he resigned via email in March.

Dumoulin revealed in an interview with Wieler Fritz on Sunday that he had left the MPCC. In it, he described the MPCC's stance on the use of ketones as "hypocritical" and criticized the voluntary organization for not publicly opposing Paris-Nice during the coronavirus outbreak. Many teams, including Dumoulin's Jumbo Visma team, withdrew from the race due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Although Jumbo Visma is not a member of the MPCC, Dumoulin registered while on Team Sunweb and was an individual member earlier this year. 5]

"I respect any individual's choice, but in Tom Dumoulin's case, his argument is simply not a good one," Rujay told Cycling News on Monday.

"The MPCC did not intervene unilaterally on whether Paris-Nice should be held." [Regarding the pandemic, after Paris-Nice we said that athletes should respect the rules of their governments and should not train outdoors if that is what is recommended in their countries. That was our position and it has not changed. At the time of Paris-Nice, there was no blockade [in France] and there was no ban from the government.

Rujay also dismissed Dumoulin's argument that while the MPCC criticizes the potential health risks posed by ketone ester supplements, it is hypocritical to remain silent about a bicycle race being held during a global pandemic. Dumoulin admitted that it is also hypocritical to remain a member when his Jumbo Visma team is using ketones, as confirmed by director Richard Plagge last year.

According to LeGay, the MPCC's initial reservations about the use of ketones were due to the results of a study at the University of Leuven, which suggested potentially significant performance-enhancing effects.

"Tom Dumoulin says he respects the MPCC's rules on corticoids. He said it was the MPCC that suggested that ketones were dangerous substances, which was not the case at all." It was published in a Belgian scientific journal, and the conclusion was that ketones improve performance by 15%. It was not MPCC that said that. Until that publication, the MPCC had not banned the ingestion of ketones.

"We then wrote to WADA citing that study and asking what they thought about the use of ketones, to which WADA replied that they knew ketones were used in sports, but that it was premature to say with certainty whether ketones would improve performance. . But if ketones do not improve performance, then what is their purpose?

"Both the possible performance-enhancing effects and the risk of future problems are negative; many of the MPCC team doctors looked at them and said, 'We don't use ketones.' There are so many unknowns about ketones that we decided not to allow their use until we know more. That's the situation."

This stance, Rujay suggested, is the same as the MPCC's previous ban on tramadol use and the UCI's later adoption of this measure. Similar to the issues raised regarding the use of ketones, the MPCC is currently lobbying WADA to ban the use of thyroid-stimulating hormone.

"It's a little different than ketones. Thyroid medication has absolutely nothing to do with sports and I am absolutely against its use by athletes," says Legay.

The MPCC was founded by seven founding members after the 2007 Tour de France and quickly grew in size after USADA's reasoned decision on the Lance Armstrong case in 2012, but many teams have since dropped out. These include Jumbo Visma (then Lotto NL-Jumbo), which withdrew in 2015 due to concerns about the reliability of MPCC's voluntary cortisol testing after George Bennett was suspended from the Giro d'Italia.

Nine WorldTour teams are currently members: Cofidis, NTT, Team Sunweb, Lot Soudal, Groupama-FDJ, Beulah Hansgrohe, AG2R La Mondiale, EF Education First, and Israel Startup Nation.

Of the 37 Grand Tours held since the movement began, only five have been won by riders who were then on MPCC teams and subject to the voluntary additional rules. Dumoulin's 2017 Giro d'Italia win in the colors of Team Sunweb is the best example, but Le Gay argued that the Dutch rider's decision to leave the MPCC did not undermine the credibility of the organization.

Dumoulin spoke out in favor of stricter testing last year in the wake of a confession by former Team Sunweb teammate Georg Preidler. At that time, Dumoulin warned that cycling "must not be negligent" against the threat of doping.

"It shows the value of the MPCC," Regehr said. If he's on a team that uses ketones (and I don't know if he uses them himself), that's his reason and his right."

According to LeGaye, Dumoulin offered his resignation from the MPCC in an email in March, in which he cited only his disappointment with the MPCC's inaction over Paris-Nice, and did not mention his use of ketones.

"He did not talk about ketones at all, only how he felt about Paris~Nice and the MPCC's role there. I responded to him the same way I responded to you on March 19," Rujay said, expressing surprise that Dumoulin had not chosen to discuss his concerns before offering his resignation from the group.

"Why did he comply with the MPCC while at Sunweb and not when he moved to Jumbo Visma? He was abiding by the MPCC rules and then he quit. He could have called me and explained it to me, but he didn't do that at all...Riders who join the MPCC always have the opportunity to speak up about issues that concern them.

"What is more disappointing than Dumoulin is that the sport still needs to be given credibility. And who can bring that credibility? They are responsible for the credibility and image of our sport. That's the reality

"Big leaders have a responsibility to make this sport credible, not just to win big races. The best way to do that is to adhere to the philosophy of the MPCC and not argue against the MPCC out of line."