Mapperley CC 'shocked' and 'surprised' amateur cyclist who never raced banned for doping

The cycling club who banned amateur cyclist Ian Edmonds rode for have expressed their shock at the doping sanction.

Edmonds, 41 and a member of Mapperley CC for the previous three years, was banned this week until August 2020 by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) for refusing to take an out-of-competition test in May 2016 after UK Border Force seized doping products that were addressed to him in early April.

The rider was expecting to receive 20 capsules of testosterone and 100 tablets of the anabolic steroid nandrolone before the parcel was intercepted. Edmonds refused a subsequent anti-doping test and when interviewed by UKAD in June he admitted to the charges of 'Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance’ and ‘Refusing to Submit to Sample Collection'. His ban runs from August 1, 2016 to midnight on August 1, 2020.

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Mapperley CC's chairman, Pete Tuckwood, told Cycling Weekly that the club weren't informed about the case until it was announced in the media, but that it came as a "very, very big shock and a surprise".

Tuckwood said: "Ian was one of the quieter members of the club. He joined us for club runs and was a very pleasant, quiet guy and always prepared to join in and have a chat.

"He’s never taken part in any competitive event to our knowledge and never competed for this club.

"It is a concern [the damage it could do to the club’s reputation] but it is the act of one individual and the club do not condone the use of prohibited substances.

"We didn’t receive any notification from the individual, British Cycling or UKAD. That’s a failing somewhere along the line, I feel, as it would have been helpful to have been notified before it hit the press, but if that’s the process, that’s the process."

Edmonds has not been in contact with the club since he injured himself in April, and the committee will be meeting to discuss their next steps, including Edmonds' membership.

A traditional club who organise weekly club time trials and two open time trials each year as well as having several riders who compete, Tuckwood is hopeful that they can move on quickly.

"We’re an amateur sports club run by volunteers and this has come as a great disappointment," he added. "We’re a close-knit club and we will come out of this the other side and carry on strong."