Officials at the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) requested Wednesday that Giro d’Italia champion Danilo Di Luca be banned for two years for an abnormal hormone test.

The abnormal result — not a direct doping positive — was returned after the 17th stage of the Giro from Lienz in Austria to Monte Zoncolan on May 30.

"Anti-doping prosecutors have requested that the cyclist Danilo Di Luca be brought before a judge to answer accusations of doping, with reference to an abnormal result," said a CONI statement.

CONI officials asked for the two-year ban in referring to article 2.2 of the World Anti-doping Code concerning the use or attempted use of banned substances or methods.

Last year Di Luca received a three-month suspension for alleged links to controversial Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione, who is the center of an investigation dubbed “Oils for Drugs,” which dates back to 2003. In December, Di Luca took his appeal against that suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Wednesday’s recommendation is not connected with the earlier suspension. Instead, CONI has recommended a two-year ban, not for a positive drug test, but for abnormal hormone readings which are an indication of — but not direct proof of — the use of performance-enhancing substances.

As well as the 32-year-old Di Luca, Eddy Mazzoleni, Riccardo Ricco and two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni were also tested that day.

According to press reports, Di Luca's results indicated an abnormally low level of hormones, akin to a child's, suggesting he was injected with water or saline solution after the stage.

Di Luca's lawyer Federico Cecconi told Italian press agency Ansa that it was wrong to ask for the rider to be banned.

"This situation is not clear and the scientific results are not homogeneous: other than Danilo's complete innocence, without wanting to turn this into an issue, how can you ask for a ban in a case such as this," complained Cecconi.

Di Luca, who rode for Liquigas last season but has since joined the Swiss LPR team, has denied having been injected with anything.