UCI institutes "No Pasta" rule in time for Giro.

First, no needles, now, no pasta.

The UCI has just issued a comprehensive ban on the use of pasta unless there is “a clear medical indication” to justify preparing the classic grand tour meal.

The policy prohibits the ingestion of  "noodles made from an unleavened dough of wheat or buckwheat flour and water, and other ingredients such as eggs and vegetable extracts."

According to the UCI, riders are illegally adding human growth hormone to their pasta noodles and sticking illegal performance-enhancing products such as EPO inside the raviolis.

This pasta practice is "all too often abused," according the the governing body of the sport. The ban applies to long and short pasta varieties, fresh and minute pasta and pasta used in baked dishes.

"When riders speak of 'preparation' for races, it's a code for boiling water for pasta," said UCI spokesman Micheal Rotini. "If we're to fight doping, we have to destroy the culture of doping. Pasta is ground zero."