Bardiani-CSF have already fallen foul of the voluntary MPCC (Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Credible) after entering an un-named rider into the 2015 Giro d’Italia despite him returning low cortisol levels prior to the race.

The Italian team quit the MPCC in the fall-out from that incident, after the MPCC went public with the news.

And the Movement responded to Ruffoni and Pirazzi’s provisional suspensions by re-iterating their call for Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport to only invite MPCC members to the race to fill wildcard spots in future.

As it is, the ProContinental outfit – who were handed a wildcard invite after winning last year’s Coppa Italia – must start the Giro with only seven riders, as it is too late to replace Ruffoni and Pirazzi.