“We’re one of the most tested sports in the world and I think that the ITA (the International Testing Agency) does a good job, but I also think we can create an even more robust anti-doping system,” says Emily Brammeier, the new president of the Movement For Credible Cycling (MPCC), a voluntary organisation that promotes clean cycling by setting higher ethical standards. “Every year there are still questions asked to the yellow jersey at the Tour de France if they’re clean. There are rumours of doping, gene doping, EPO, mechanical doping, still many question marks. Is it a really good thing that we don’t have that many positive tests anymore: does it mean we’re doing a good job or that the cheaters are doing a better job? It’s important we focus on closing loopholes in the system. It’s our sport’s responsibility as a whole to ensure that people trust what they’re seeing. Riders are getting younger and they’re also really impressionable, and these grey areas that we have at the moment are really damaging for the sport and its stability.”
After 18 years leading the MPCC, Frenchman Roger Legeay has stepped down as its president. In almost two decades at the head of the body, the former Crédit Agricole team manager persuaded the UCI to introduce a number of stringent anti-doping measures, including the banning of corticosteroids, tramadol and carbon monoxide rebreathing. Now, aged 76, Legeay has handed over responsibility to Brammeier, who for the past nine years has been the head of communications at Picnic PostNL. The 31-year-old has also become an influential figure in the corridors of power in recent years: a MPCC board member for the past three years and vice president in the last 12 months, she was elected to the vice president role at the teams’ organisation AIGCP in 2024, and also sits on the ITA’s Funding Commission. Additionally, she played an active role in the now-paused One Cycling conversations.
Though Brammeier will not be familiar to a lot of fans, her family’s DNA is rooted in the sport . Her brother Matt, now the senior coach at British Cycling, raced professionally for 13 years and was a five-time Irish champion. His wife, Nikki, finished first or second in 10 consecutive British cyclocross national championship races in the 2010s. “Growing up, I saw first hand the grit and determination it takes to be a pro, and the challenges my brother and sister-in-law had to overcome as the sport was coming out of its dark history,” Brammeier tells Rouleur just days after her appointment. “Matt and Nikki were the first British riders to join the MPCC and as a family we’ve always upheld those views of fair play and of the importance of protecting elite athletes.”
In the past few years MPCC’s reputation and standing in the sport has waned somewhat, with only seven of the 18 men’s WorldTour teams in 2025 being members – four less than a decade ago. But Brammeier is effusive in her praise of the man she’s succeeding. “Roger lives and breathes anti-doping, and it’s a big task to follow in his footsteps,” she says. “Massive credit should go to him for holding an organisation like this together through the various crises cycling has had in the past 20 years. He has facilitated an open dialogue and safe space for teams to talk honestly among each other about the most difficult of topics and that has allowed constructive talks to take place.”
Brammeier and outgoing MPCC president Roger Legeay.
Going forward, though, Brammeier is the new name in charge. “It’s not necessarily about doing things differently from Roger, but I can bring different skillsets and different perspectives," she says. "I’m aware of the broader topics of discussion in the political sphere and I have my ears to the ground at the races I’m at on a regular basis with my day-to-day job. I’m there listening to riders when they come in on the bus and our goal is to involve more riders over the next few years to really change and impact the movement’s direction”
Currently more than 1,200 people involved in the sport are members of the MPCC, including 16 of the 17 men’s ProTeams, but Brammeier recognises that not enough leading athletes are part of the body. “I think the MPCC being a voluntary and not a mandatory organisation is really powerful, but we need to remain relevant as an organisation,” Brammeier says. “The MPCC has to have a clear goal and a clear mission, and I want to spend time this winter defining what our strategy is and how we can make an impact.”
What are some of her ideas? “What can we do to eliminate the grey area?” she begins. “Some teams dish out various painkillers to riders at the start of the race like it’s something normal, but should we really normalise that? We need an ethical code of conduct which the UCI can ask all teams to abide by. We’re talking about rider health, and I want to integrate more women’s health issues into the mission. RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) is a massive thing for many riders at the moment so we should address that, too.”
As Brammeier gets down to work, at a time when the doping cases in the sport are low but suspicion remains high, the Englishwoman does so as the first female president of a major cycling stakeholder. “I’m very proud of that and I hope it shows young women coming up in the world that leadership of any organisation is open to anyone, no matter their age or sex,” she says. “But I’m quite happy that there’s not been a massive story made out of that because we need to focus on who the right person to lead the organisation is, not whether they’re a man or a woman. What’s important to me is that I continue the record of the MPCC having so many success stories over the years, and that we can foster the right culture in each of our teams.”
