After Lampre-Merida have allowed Diego Ulissi to return to competition at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the Italian team has apparently come into conflict with the Movement of a Credible Cycling (MPCC) of which they are a member.

Ulissi tested positive for Salbutamol at the 2014 Giro d'Italia and is currently serving a 9-month ban. Yesterday MPCC issued the following statement:

"MPCC is once again proud to say all its members respected the movement’s core regulation on a volontary basis, particularly the self-suspension principle such as the implementation of article 4 which dictates team members « not to hire - within the two years following the suspension - riders found guilty of antidoping rules violation and then suspended for at least six months by their national/international associations. »

"On this matter, in the next days, MPCC is waiting for the position of Lampre-Merida about the team’s press release announcing Diego Ulissi’s come back on the next Vuelta al Pais Vasco."

However, Lampre-Merida claim that they have not violated the rules as Ulissi already has a valid contract in place. Today they reacted angrily by issuing their own statement.

"After having read today's press release from MPCC after the Board of Directors meeting which was held on the 11th of February 2015 and with this the consequences which were reported and valuated by the various media, the team expresses its dissatisfaction with the way in which the press release was reported.

"It is not acceptable that this type of message is communicated in this way, in other words that the team is under observation for the announcement of Ulissi returning to compete. Over and above this the team has never received any direct contact from the organization.

"Ulissi returning to compete in the team fully respects the MPCC rules and regulations, namely the article 4 which is mentioned in the press release. This rule is in fact applicable to the hiring of new riders: as Ulissi already has a contract with the team, this rule does not apply to his case and for this we don’t comprehend the necessity to clarify our position.

"Once again the team has respected the rules and regulations of the MPCC, as we have always done in the past, strictly applying all the requests even though various situations have been to our disadvantage."

Last year the team had to leave Chris Horner off the Vuelta roster after he had registered low cortisol levels. MPCC rules didn't allow him to start even though he was eligible to ride according to UCI rules.