Summary Austrian triathlete Hannes Hempel has retired after failing a drug test.
VIENNA (AP) - Austrian triathlete Hannes Hempel has retired after failing a drug test, three years after being banned for his involvement in the doping case of former cyclist Bernhard Kohl.
Hempel, who had unnaturally high levels of testosterone when tested in March, said Wednesday he "will pass on having my B sample opened ... I know from experience that my suspension is already certain and I am not willing to invest a lot of money in an unwinnable fight against (Austrian anti-doping agency) NADA."
In 2010, Hempel was handed a four-year ban, later reduced to two, for supplying Kohl with the blood booster CERA during the 2008 Tour de France, where Kohl took third and the polka-dot jersey for best climber. Kohl was later stripped of his results after admitting to doping.
Before switching to triathlon in 2003, Hempel rode for Gerolsteiner, the same team Kohl later joined. Hempel won the Austrian road championship three times in the 1990s.
"I feel like the triathlon scene wanted to get rid of me," the 39-year-old Hempel said. "That s why I announce my retirement from professional sport as of now."
