BANNED CYCLIST AT CENTRE OF REVELATIONS

AN AMATEUR cyclist banned for refusing to provide a sample is understood to be at the centre of the doping allegations.

Sportsmail can reveal that Dan Stevens, who had a two-year suspension reduced to 21 months in 2014 after providing evidence to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report into doping in the sport, made claims to UK Anti-Doping that concerned Dr Mark Bonar. Stevens refused to provide a sample for an out-of-competition test in January 2014. Accompanied by his lawyer, Stevens hoped to reduce his sanction by assisting UKAD and provided more than 100 names, 69 of whom were related to sport and some of whom were celebrities. Among those names was Dr Bonar, 38, with Stevens believed to have told officials he visited the doctor for treatment for a low testosterone condition. As UKAD said in their response to The

Sunday Times, the unnamed ‘sportsperson’ told investigators he was suffering from other medical conditions as well and was prescribed EPO and testosterone by Bonar. UKAD had no previous intelligence on Dr Bonar. But they asked Stevens for evidence that could corroborate his story, and eventually he produced two handwritten prescriptions. Stevens also said he knew of an athlete trafficking banned substances, prompting UKAD officials to contact Border Force officers. The raid on the athlete proved unsuccessful, however which, apparently, caused some embarrassment to UKAD. Expert assessment of the prescriptions provided by Stevens was also inconclusive, and while the details he gave to the CIRC report investigators did lead to a three-month reduction of his ban, the evidence he provided on Bonar was considered ‘weak’. Too weak, UKAD felt, to pass to the General Medical Council.