The World Anti-Doping Agency has handed Russia a four-year ban from all major sporting events, including the UCI World Championships. For cyclists such as Ilnur Zakarin and Pavel Sivakov, this means they will not be allowed to compete under the Russian flag at next summer's Tokyo Olympics or the World Championships in Switzerland.
The unanimous decision was made by the WADA executive committee at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland over the weekend.
The decision was made after WADA declared Russia non-compliant in manipulating laboratory data after providing information to investigators at the beginning of the year.
The sharing of data came as a condition from its previous blanket ban between 2015 and 2018 that prevented Russia competing following the unveiling of its widely reported doping scandal.
The original doping scandal, uncovered by whistleblower and former head of Russian anti-doping Grigory Rodchenkov, originally stemmed from a documentary in which Bryan Fogel was attempting to dope his way to victory at the Haute Route amateur cycling race.
The likes of Sivakov, Zakarin and newly crowned junior women's time trial World Champion Aigul Gareeva will now be barred from competing for Russia over the next four years, including next summer's Tokyo Olympics and the next four World Championships, despite not being implicated.
If they are able to prove they were not involved in the doping practices organised by Russia, they are permitted to compete under a neutral flag.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, 168 Russian athletes competed this way.