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American cyclist Tyler Hamilton has retired from the sport after testing positive for DHEA that he is claiming he took in an herbal supplement he used on February 7th and 8th 2009 to self treat clinical depression after going off his prescription drug Lexapro.

The 38-year-old tested positive for the banned substance DHEA in an out-of-competition drug test taken in February 2009 by the United States Anti-doping Agency (USADA).

“I took a banned substance so I need to take whatever penalty they will give me and move forward,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton decided to retire after admitting to having taken an illegal substance in a vitamin supplement he was using to combat depression.

“Today is about my leaving the sport and to talk about my depression, not the past,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore. It’s about moving forward and taking care of myself.

“My future in the sport is yet to be determined. I’ll live with that. I have officially retired right now.” “This retirement is about me getting better”. His stated that his mental health has to now take the fore front in his life, he feels that it is now time to focus on his disease. It has been a secondary part of his life, but he feels it has gone on too long to ignore anymore. Hamilton was first diagnosed with depression in 2003.

The 2004 Olympic time-trial champion became the first athlete to be found guilty of doping by blood transfusion later that year.

The American, who rides for the American team Rock Racing, was subsequently suspended for two years.

Hamilton pulled out of last month’s Tour of Castilla y Leon citing “bronchitis”, after rumors began to circulate that he had failed a drug test.

“No one officially knew about it,” Hamilton said.

“I took a few weeks to figure out my options. I knew it was the calm before the storm. I needed that time to spend with my family, talk to them about what was going to happen and what I am going through.”

In today’s press conference Team Rock Racing’s owner, Michael Ball stated “today is a tough day”. He stated that he wanted to give Tyler Hamilton a 2nd chance to get things right. He wants us to know that he takes some responsibility by not recognizing the signs that Tyler was showing during an early training camp. Ball noticed that he was acting different and that something was up, but it was not addressed.

There are so many questions that have not been answered, and will likely never be answered. But Bicycle.net feels that Tyler Hamilton deserves the opportunity to get better. To get the help and treatment he needs to live a long and healthy life. But that being said, he did take a banned substance and he needs to stand accountable.

Good Luck Tyler!