A 62-year-old American has become probably the oldest cyclist ever to be caught using performance-enhancing drugs.

David LeDuc was yesterday suspended for two years by the US Anti-Drug Agency after he tested positive for a steroid of exogenous origin, recombinant human erythropoietin (“rhEPO”) and amphetamine as the result of an in-competition urine sample collected on September 6, 2013 at the Masters Road National Championshipsin Bend, Oregon.

LeDuc’s ban started December 24, the date he accepted the sanction, and he has been disqualified from all competitive results achieved on and after September 6, 2013.

LeDuc was a multiple US national champion in his age group, and 2001 masters’ world champion in the 50-53 category.

LeDuc’s positive garnered a strong reaction on Twitter from the US cycling community. Race organiser and pro rider Adam Myerson tweeted: “Dave LeDuc getting busted is worth every penny of the $800 I paid into @usacycling’s RaceClean program this year as a race organizer.”

He added: “I’ve been calling that dirty old man Dave LeDuc out to his face for doping for over a decade. I should have punched him in it instead.”

LeDuc had been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs for some time. Adam Myerson again: “Favorite LeDuc moment was at a crit in Raleigh. He won, OTF with Soladay. I told DLD after they were calling him for random. Oh, the panic!”

In a 2006 interview with The Virginian-Pilot, LeDuc said he thought cycling was unfairly singled out for drug testing.

"I think there are probably just as many drugs in all sports, too, but cycling for some reason is under the microscope right now," he said after finishing eighth in the Pro-1/2/3 class at The Chesapeake Criterium.

"Any of the big four sports – basketball, baseball, football and hockey – if they were subjected to the amount of testing as cycling, they wouldn't stand for it."