Tyler Hamilton "I don't think I'm a hero. I'm just doing my job"
I don’t think Mr. Baker really did justice to Tyler Hamilton’s effort–it was far better than he described. When Hamilton woke up Wednesday morning, he was in 7th place, 9 minutes behind the leader, and about a minute away from 6th place Ivan Basso. And his collar bone was still broken.
On the first climb, he was in trouble. His team had to go back and pace him to the peloton. Once he got back, he just kept going. On the first category 1 climb he left the peloton and caught the lead group riders. By the time he topped the second category 1 climb, he was a few minutes ahead of the remaining breakaway group. He looked absolutely miserable as he pulled on his handlebars to negociate the steep climbs. At one point I saw his eyes shut because of the hellish pain he put himself through.
And if you know anything about cycling, you know a lone rider with 4 minutes on the peloton is going to get caught in the remaining 90 kilometers of mostly flat road. That’s just the way it works, and with a guy in the top 10 up ahead, of course the GC contenders are going to push the peloton. They’ll just let Tyler suffer a bit and slowly reel him in.
But there was tact in his move. He was so far behind Ullrich & Armstrong, that they saw no need to chase him down. The riders in jeopardy were Zubledia, Mayo, and Basso, in 4th, 5th, and 6th. They tried to organize a chase, but Basso’s Fassa Bortolo team only has three riders remaining, and Euskaltel, well they can’t do jack once they’re off the mountains. So, Tyler actually stretched the lead until about the 25 km banner. Wouldn’t the sprinters want the stage win for themselves? Could their teams pace the peloton back in? The problem is that most of the big sprinters were behind the peloton, having been dropped in the earlier mountains. So the chase wasn’t robust–they were good enough to scoop up every last one of the other riders from the breakaway, but what about Hamilton? He kept the tempo up as though it was just a giant time trial, only instead of one rider behind him, he was trying to hold off a pack of about 60 men.
Still, the math doesn’t work. They should have caught him–1 minute per 10 km, right? And we’re talking about a guy succeeding on a 3 hour solo breakaway. Even the best time trialer will crack over the last 70 km, right? Especially when Telekom joins in the persuit to protect Vinokourov...
But he did hold on. He didn’t just escape by a hair, he won by 2 minutes! I was in awe of Hamilton when he FINISHED stage 2 with the peloton. I was in awe when he finished a mountain stage. I was in awe when he attacked in the mountains, but this takes the cake. The man was getting dropped, recovered, attacked the peloton and then the lead group over several climbs, extended his lead on the flats, and held on for the win. And he’s in such pain that he probably can’t tie his shoes!
After the two minute win and the time bonuses, he’s up to 6th place. He’s just over a minute behind Mayo, who’s in fifth. In the first time trial he beat Mayo by nearly two and a half minutes. He’s in range to finish this Tour in the top 5, and he got in that position by torturing himself for hours each day, every day. Tyler Hamilton, you are brilliant; you are superhuman.
I don’t think Mr. Baker really did justice to Tyler Hamilton’s effort–it was far better than he described. When Hamilton woke up Wednesday morning, he was in 7th place, 9 minutes behind the leader, and about a minute away from 6th place Ivan Basso. And his collar bone was still broken.
On the first climb, he was in trouble. His team had to go back and pace him to the peloton. Once he got back, he just kept going. On the first category 1 climb he left the peloton and caught the lead group riders. By the time he topped the second category 1 climb, he was a few minutes ahead of the remaining breakaway group. He looked absolutely miserable as he pulled on his handlebars to negociate the steep climbs. At one point I saw his eyes shut because of the hellish pain he put himself through.
And if you know anything about cycling, you know a lone rider with 4 minutes on the peloton is going to get caught in the remaining 90 kilometers of mostly flat road. That’s just the way it works, and with a guy in the top 10 up ahead, of course the GC contenders are going to push the peloton. They’ll just let Tyler suffer a bit and slowly reel him in.
But there was tact in his move. He was so far behind Ullrich & Armstrong, that they saw no need to chase him down. The riders in jeopardy were Zubledia, Mayo, and Basso, in 4th, 5th, and 6th. They tried to organize a chase, but Basso’s Fassa Bortolo team only has three riders remaining, and Euskaltel, well they can’t do jack once they’re off the mountains. So, Tyler actually stretched the lead until about the 25 km banner. Wouldn’t the sprinters want the stage win for themselves? Could their teams pace the peloton back in? The problem is that most of the big sprinters were behind the peloton, having been dropped in the earlier mountains. So the chase wasn’t robust–they were good enough to scoop up every last one of the other riders from the breakaway, but what about Hamilton? He kept the tempo up as though it was just a giant time trial, only instead of one rider behind him, he was trying to hold off a pack of about 60 men.
Still, the math doesn’t work. They should have caught him–1 minute per 10 km, right? And we’re talking about a guy succeeding on a 3 hour solo breakaway. Even the best time trialer will crack over the last 70 km, right? Especially when Telekom joins in the persuit to protect Vinokourov...
But he did hold on. He didn’t just escape by a hair, he won by 2 minutes! I was in awe of Hamilton when he FINISHED stage 2 with the peloton. I was in awe when he finished a mountain stage. I was in awe when he attacked in the mountains, but this takes the cake. The man was getting dropped, recovered, attacked the peloton and then the lead group over several climbs, extended his lead on the flats, and held on for the win. And he’s in such pain that he probably can’t tie his shoes!
After the two minute win and the time bonuses, he’s up to 6th place. He’s just over a minute behind Mayo, who’s in fifth. In the first time trial he beat Mayo by nearly two and a half minutes. He’s in range to finish this Tour in the top 5, and he got in that position by torturing himself for hours each day, every day. Tyler Hamilton, you are brilliant; you are superhuman.
posted by uberschuck at 8:59 PM
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