Hamilton accepts eight-year suspension

American Tyler Hamilton has accepted an eight-year suspension for a second doping positive, the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA ) announced Tuesday. Hamilton tested positive for an "testosterone or its precursors" the agency said in a press release.

Hamilton's ban began on March 17, 2009, the date of a provisional suspension. He announced that he would retire from the sport in April of this year after he tested positive for the banned steroid Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Hamilton admitted to knowingly taking the substance which was an ingredient in a vitamin supplement he took in an attempt to alleviate depression.

The result was his second doping offense. He served a two-year suspension for blood doping after testing positive for a transfusion in the 2004 Vuelta a España.

"In the sport of cycling, eight years ineligibility for a 38-year old athlete is effectively a lifetime ban, and an assurance that he is penalized for what would have been the remainder of his competitive cycling career," said Travis T. Tygart, USADA CEO.