British junior Gabriel Evans took EPO before national title victory

Evans said he hoped 'the whole mess would be swept under the rug'

Gabriel Evans, being interviewed following his victory in the Individual Cycling event at the London Youth Games Finals in 2013 (YouTube)

A promising young amateur British rider, Junior National time-trial champion Gabriel Evans, has admitted to using the banned blood booster EPO this year.

Evans, 18, was apparently caught with a vial of EPO while training in France by a team-mate’s father, who alerted UK Anti-Doping.

The London-based rider pulled out of the Junior Tour of Wales, one of the top national events at that level, but then took part in the Junior National race in early September, claiming gold.

In a statement released on the timetriallingforum.co.uk website, Evans said: “I realise that competing was [another] huge mistake but at the time my intent was not malicious. I was hoping to regain some normality and that the whole mess would somehow be swept under the rug.

He added: “If there is anybody reading this who is considering using PEDs, know that my choice has turned out to be immensely destructive and has seriously affected my personal life.”

Later speaking to Cycling Weekly, Evans said curiosity and watching a BBC Panorama programme about doping in athletics, “Catch Me If You Can”, had pushed him to buy the EPO – for many years cycling’s banned drug of choice – as well as the loss of his National 25-mile time-trial title earlier in the summer.

“That was a catalyst,” he said. “I got beaten by a lot, and when you get beaten by a lot you start questioning things. You question other people.

“I’m not trying to justify it, but when there is that much media exposure, about EPO, it is easy to be tempted. A big factor was losing that title.”

Evans would not reveal where he obtained the drug, but confirmed he is waiting for a UKAD sanction.

The news coincided yesterday with the confirmation that another cyclist, veteran racer Andrew Hastings, would receive a four-year ban for taking anabolic steroids. Hastings is a time-trial champion in the 35 to 39-year-old Masters category.