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Thirty-one riders have been disqualified from the Under-23 Giro d’Italia for cheating on stage four.<\/span><\/p>\n Spectator footage showed a number of riders holding on to team cars and motorbikes during the summit finish on the Passo dello Stelvio.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Britain’s Noah Hobbs, of the Groupama-FDJ team, was among the disqualified riders.<\/span><\/p>\n Of the 35 teams competing in the eight-stage race also known as the ‘Baby Giro’, 15 have been affected.<\/span><\/p>\n Following assessment of the footage, 24 riders were initially disqualified by race organisers but that that number later rose to 31.<\/span><\/p>\n Those punished included Lotto-Dstny development team leader and Paris-Roubaix U23 winner Tijl de Decker, and Davide Persico of Colpack-Ballan.<\/span><\/p>\n In a statement to BBC Sport, world governing body the UCI expressed “full support” for the race organisers, adding that they “took the right decision”.<\/span><\/p>\n The stage in question was a 119km ride from Morbegno to Passo dello Stelvio. Johannes Staune-Mittet of Jumbo Vima beat France’s Alexy Faure-Prost to take the win, with Darren Rafferty of Ireland in third.<\/span><\/p>\n