Tyler Hamilton Wins First Race Since 2004

Tyler Hamilton's long comeback attempt came full circle today as the Massachusetts native took stage eight of the Tour of Quinghai Lake in China. The victory, on the decisive climbing stage of the tour, also placed Hamilton in the race leader's yellow jersey. Hamilton will surely savor the win, his first in several years.

As a former fan of Hamilton, I must admit that I am very happy for the veteran. He has really been put through the wringer these past few years, and seems to have made it through despite multiple roadblocks and challenges. It is still very sad to think however about how many wins he would have collected in his years away from the sport.

Hamilton was, in many ways, made a scapegoat in the war against doping. Once a prominent member of the US Postal team, he was known early in his career as a selfless teammate willing to do whatever it took to help his leader win. When he broke away from Lance Armstrong and the US Postal dynasty in 2003, he alienated himself from many of America's biggest cycling players. In the end, it would cost him dearly.

By the time he was banned from the sport for two years for homologous blood doping, Hamilton had very few friends left. Armstrong was nowhere to be found, and even his former teammates at Phonak wanted nothing to do with him. His fans, for the most part, completely abondoned him, wanting nothing to do with a cheat. I took down his posters and threw them away, thinking I would never hear about him again.

But Hamilton would not be beaten down. He soldiered on in his comback attempt, first with the Italian Tinkoff team and then this year with Rock Racing. Often off the back in races this year, many, including yours truly, thought Hamilton was done as a pro. But now, with his stage win and probable overall win at Quinghai, Hamilton has shown that maybe, just maybe, he has a few more kilometers left in his legs. A long season of racing competitively has helped him progress, and while he'll never again be a truly elite cyclist, he can still hope to contend for a few more years at the top level of domestic racing in America.

For a long time, I was very angry at Tyler Hamilton. He was my favorite rider, seemingly capable of enduring pain levels that others would never be able to. Not only that, he had the guts to break away from the death grip of Armstrong to be a team leader in his own right. For a few years there, it even looked possible that he would be able to dethrone the American juggernaut. Once he got caught, my heart broken, I was happy to see all the bad things happen to him that did.

Today though, my anger is gone, and is slowly being replaced again by admiration for Hamilton's fighting spirit. I will never doubt that he doped, lied about it then, and continues to lie about it to this day. However, I also believe that he has paid his dues and then some. The man deserves another chance to do what he loves, and without a doubt he loves cycling. I know he'll never again contend in big time races, but I'll still be rooting for him as he hangs on as long as possible as a pro bike racer.