Evans, a six-time winner of the SA National Marathon Series title, became the latest South African cyclist to fall foul of the country’s dope testing after the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) had charged Evans with doping after identifying serious irregularities in his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) – a profile of the athlete’s blood parameters.
Evans also finished on the final podium of the gruelling Cape Epic off-road stage event on four occasions and has accepted the charge of doping – he did not contest the findings.
The ABP is a longitudinal analysis and the suspicious readings were identified over a period of time, therefore, the athlete’s results extending back to 14 March 2014 will be disqualified, with all of the resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
Evans has since retired from professional cycling, meaning the four-year ban, dating back to March 4, 2015, will be moot.
Cycling South Africa went on to say that they respect the independence of the SAIDS process. Cycling South Africa further reiterated its zero-tolerance approach to doping in sport and will continue working with SAIDS in the promotion of a drug-free sport via its awareness and extensive testing programmes.
Late last year yet another mountain biker, Rourke Croeser was also found guilty of a doping violation and Tour de France rider Daryl Impey the previous year, although the latter was subsequently cleared.
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
