Following allegations made by Michael Rasmussen earlier today that Ryder Hesjedal doped in 2003, the 2012 Giro champion has admitted to taking banned substances at the time. Receiving full support from his Garmin-Sharp team, he claims to have stopped his misdemeanours a long time ago and gave complete evidence to the anti-doping authorities long before the Rasmussen allegations surfaced.

Earlier today, Ryder Hesjedal was dragged through the mud when excerpts from Michael Rasmussen's book revealed that the Dane claims to have taught the Canadian and fellow mountain bikers Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard how to dope while preparing for the world championships in 2003. The Canadian has reacted swiftly to the allegations by admitting his misdemeanours in a statement issued by his Garmin-Sharp team.

"Cycling is my life and has been ever since I can remember. I have loved and lived this sport but more than a decade ago, I chose the wrong path," Hesjedal said. "And even though those mistakes happened more than 10 years ago, and they were short-lived, it does not change the fact that I made them and I have lived with that and been sorry for it ever since.

"To everyone in my life, inside and outside the sport – to those that have supported me and my dreams – including my friends, my family, the media, fans, my peers, sponsors – to riders who didn't make the same choices as me all those years ago, I sincerely apologize for my part in the dark past of the sport. I will always be sorry."

Hesjedal claims to have testified to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES) well before the Rasmussen allegations surfaced. His Garmin-Sharp team fully supported Tom Danielson, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde when the trio admitted to doping in the USADA investigation into the Lance Armstrong case. In a similar way, they stand completely behind their grand tour star.

“Although I stopped what I was doing many years before I joined Slipstream Sports [the company behind Garmin-Sharp], I was and am deeply grateful to be a part of an organization that makes racing clean its first priority and that supports athletes for telling the truth," he said. "I believe that being truthful will help the sport continue to move forward, and over a year ago when I was contacted by anti-doping authorities, I was open and honest about my past

"I have seen the best and the worst of the sport and I believe that it is now in the best place it’s ever been. I look at young riders on our team and throughout the peloton, and I know the future of the sport has arrived. I'm glad that they didn’t have to make the same choices I did, and I will do everything I can to continue to help the sport that I love."

Garmin-Sharp is known for its clear anti-doping stance and reiterated their call for an amnesty.

"As we have said from the beginning, Slipstream Sports was created because we wanted to build a team where cyclists could compete 100% clean," they wrote in the statement. "And, as we have previously stated, our expectation is that anyone in our organization contacted by any anti-doping authority must be open and honest with that authority.

"Ryder is no exception and a year ago when he was contacted he cooperated fully and truthfully testified to USADA and CCES. For this reason and because of our desire for 100 per cent truth and reconciliation in the sport of cycling, we support him."

USADA has confirmed to Cyclingnews that Hesjedal has indeed given full evidence. However, the Canadian won't be sanctioned as his offences fall outside the 8-year statute of limitations.

“As has been publicly reported, we can confirm that USADA, along with the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport (CCES), interviewed cyclist, Ryder Hesjedal, earlier this year as part of our ongoing investigation into the sport of cycling," CEO Travis Tygart said. "Athletes like him and others, who have voluntarily come in, taken accountability for their actions and have been fully truthful, are essential to securing a brighter future for the sport of cycling.

"As in all cases, where there is actionable evidence of doping within the statute of limitations, we have imposed discipline and announced sanctions. We continue our ongoing investigation into the sport of cycling, and have also been urging the UCI to take the decisive and transparent action it announced over a year ago to truly set the sport on a new foundation for the good of clean athletes.

"We are hopeful and confident that the new UCI leadership will fulfill its promise of conducting a full and independent process to finally put this sport on a new path toward integrity that protects the rights of clean athletes, and believe strongly the time for this is now.”

Cycling Canada used the case to support Garmin's claim for an amnesty process.

"The WADA Code has a statute of limitations of eight years," they said in a statement. "As such, even if these three athletes admitted to these allegations, this information in and of itself, would not result in anti-doping rule violations. We believe that the UCI and WADA should continue to work toward an agreement on an amnesty program that would relate historic cases of doping that are outside the statute of limitations. This type of amnesty could allow cycling to deal with historic cases while learning the scope of the cheating and the methods that were employed to avoid detection."

Following a career in mountain biking, Hesjedal turned to the road in 2004 with the US Postal team and stayed there until the team - now known as Discovery Channel - folded at the end of the 2005 season. He hasn't been  implicated in the many doping accusations that were made public in the USADA report last autumn. In 2006 he joined Phonak but wasn't part of the team that worked for Floyd Landis in his now infamous Tour de France-winning ride.

In 2007 he rode for Health Net before joining his current Garmin team in 2008. His major breakthrough came in 2010 when he finished 6th in the Tour de France and he went on to win the Giro 2 years later.