The four-month investigation was carried out by LLB Strategies, and commissioned by Cycling Canada with the support of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).

The scope of the report, entitled "National Consultation on Doping Activity in the Sport of Cycling", was limited to gathering information related to doping activity and therefore did not include researching or studying the situation of doping in Canadian cycling.

Therefore, results are based solely on information given by interviewees.

In total, LLB Strategies spoke to 21 athletes, six sports administrators, two team managers, one person it identifies as a "sport leader," one coach and one parent.

This is of the 64 who were contacted, however, 21 did not respond to the four email invitations, while seven refused to participate.

Of those interviews, only a few appeared to have admitted to using to performance enhancing drugs, with a number of other known dopers refusing to participate or not responding to the invitations.

"Unfortunately, other Canadian athletes who had also committed anti-doping violations did not agree to participate in the consultation," the report read.

"Some of them refused, while others simply did not respond to our numerous invitations."

Ryder Hesjedal admitted to doping after a book written by Danish rider Michael Rasmussen said that he gave Hesjedal and two other Canadians EPO ©Getty Images



The investigation was launched in May following a number of high profile doping cases involving Canadian cyclist in the wake of the scandal involving American Lance Armstrong. 

Two of the most widely publicised cases include Michael Barry, who was revealed as part of the US Anti-Doping Agency's report on doping at US Postal that led to the lifetime ban of Armstrong, and Ryder Hesjedal, whose cooperation with the authorities was made public in late 2013.

Hesjedal admitted to doping after a book written by Danish rider Michael Rasmussen alleged that he gave Hesjedal and two other Canadians, Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath, instructions on how to use erythropoietin for performance enhancement in 2003.

Cycling Canada did not reveal which riders gave the testimonies in the report.

Despite getting recognising that there were dopers in Canadian cycling, the report claimed "there is no doping culture or organised system of doping in Canadian cycling."

It added: "However, the report found enough evidence of individual doping activities to warrant key strategic measures being taken to better address the issue of doping in cycling.

"In addition, the report found that there is no connection between the various Canadian doping cases.

"The supply chain and the actors involved are all different.

"It supports the theory that all doping activities were isolated cases that were initiated by individuals, primarily by the athletes themselves."

To read the full report click here. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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