Amateur cycling in the United Kingdom has been rocked by two doping scandals in a matter of hours, with a Master’s champion receiving a ban and a junior champion making an admission.
Andy Hastings, winner of the British Masters Championships (age 35-39) in 2015, was banned for using two anabolic steroids, claiming the banned substances had come from a borrowed, used needle with which he injected Vitamin B12.
Gabriel Evans, 18, then took to a time trialling forum to admit that he was caught with EPO and later rode, and won, the British Junior 10mi Championships, citing curiosity at the drug having watched BBC’s Panorama programme on the subject.
The Reaction
18-year-old Gabriel Evans used EPO for the National Junior 10 time trial. This makes me so, so sad in so many ways.
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) December 10, 2015
Andy Hastings, 4 year ban for steroid use. Very sad, especially for the rest of the team who he has badly let down.
— Jamie Maidment (@jmaidment85) December 10, 2015
UK time trialling sees doping bans for a Junior and a Master. I find this genuinely distressing.
— Michael Hutchinson (@Doctor_Hutch) December 10, 2015
Gabriel Evans
The reactions to Evans’s confession took one of two stances: 1) the youngster was let down by his support network and his cycling mentors; or 2) the 18-year-old should banned for life for his decision to dope.
Reactions to Gabriel Evans EPO interesting. Some w/ immediate condemnation; others critical of support network; others want full confession
— Andy McGrath (@Andymcgra) December 10, 2015
@cyclingweekly life bans. Simple. That'll stop "curiosity".
— Jon Mould (@jonmould91) December 10, 2015
Andrew Hastings
There appears to be slightly less pity for Andrew Hastings, and even less support for his claim of using a borrowed, used needle from a man he met at “Monster Gym”.
Another Masters cheat. Andrew Hastings, blames borrowed syringe for failed test. That's better than the chemist with contaminated trays.
— Billy Stelling (@BillyMTBoy) December 10, 2015
Re: doping excuses. Suggest that doping disciplinary procedure should include a couple of rounds of "Would I lie to you?"
— Michael Hutchinson (@Doctor_Hutch) December 10, 2015
@cyclingweekly @craigansell74 If he's telling the truth, he should be banned anyway for being a fucking idiot.
— Rich Smith (@ReCycledRich) December 10, 2015
And finally…
I bet all you bone heads doping, used the unlimited health cheat on Grand Theft Auto too. You're all boring.
— AlecBriggs/ Pedaler (@Alec_Pedaler) December 10, 2015
