Around half of the 86 people due to be formally investigated for possession of banned substances and sports fraud by Florence prosecutor Luigi Bocciolini are riders who competed in the controversial Tour of Italy which finished on Sunday.
Italian drugs squad officers ransacked team hotel and riders' rooms on June 6th in San Remo and found a range of banned substances in the biggest scandal to hit the sport since the 1998 Tour de France - this year's Tour gets underway next month.
Now it has been revealed that over 40 riders were in possession of illegal or banned substances, while a range of as yet unknown substances found are still being analysed.
Yesterday the president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) Gianni Petrucci proposed the cancellation of all cycling competitions in Italy until an ethical code on doping in sport is ironed out.
His proposal - which came after a meeting with cycling chief Giancarlo Ceruti and leading riders such as 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani and Giro champion Gilberto Simoni - will be considered today by the Italian cycling federations' executive council.
The controversial raid last Wednesday night followed earlier doping cases in the three-week race - a number of riders had already been ejected due to the use of banned drugs. But it is also partly a consequence of a new law in Italy which makes doping in sport, and the possession of banned substances, a criminal offence.
Although 180 riders were tested before the start of the race start on May 19th, and all passed the urine-based EPO the first doping casualty was soon unveiled.
Italian rider Sergio Barbero was ejected by his Lampre team prior to the 12th stage after it was revealed he tested positive for EPO during the Tour of Romandy at the start of May.
Then on June 3rd drugs were seized from a car belonging to a relative of Alessio team leader and two-time Tour of Italy champion Ivan Gotti. Days later Frenchman Pascal Herve, a former Festina rider and teammate of banned French rider Richard Virenque, received word that he'd tested positive for EPO.
On June 6th Italian rider Riccardo Forconi, a member of Marco Pantani's Mercatone Uno outfit, was pulled out by his team after failing a test for EPO. Like Herve, Forconi has been punished before for EPO use.
Italy's Fassa Bartolo rider Dario Frigo, who was lying a close second behind Simoni, pulled out of the race after it was revealed that banned products had been found in his hotel room during the police raid.
