Injuries and falls have yet to stop Tyler Hamilton. Having survived another crash in this year’s Tour de France, the American rider is ready to make his move.
”The tour starts now,” the Phonak rider told reporters on Monday, during a rest day in Limoges. ”I’m still in contention, so I have to be pleased with that.”
Hamilton (33) is one of the main threats to Lance Armstrong’s bid for a record sixth straight tour win. He currently sits in 11th place overall, 36 seconds behind his former United States Postal teammate.
Hamilton stole headlines last year while riding with Team CSC.
He finished fourth overall despite riding most of the race with a double fracture of the collarbone after being caught in a mass pile-up.
Just a week into this year’s race, Hamilton flew off his bike again, hurting his back and shoulder in another big spill.
”I was involved in the crash three days ago and hurt my back pretty badly,” Hamilton said, explaining that he has been receiving treatment since.
”I just finished doing some acupuncture on my back,” he said, adding that Monday’s rest day also involved a two-and-a-half-hour ”leisurely” bike ride.
Tour riders normally like to keep in shape during a day off in order to maintain momentum and rhythm.
Although cursing bad luck, Hamilton remains upbeat about his team.
”If I had to grade this past week, I’d grade it A plus for teamwork, and C for luck,” he said. ”In the team time trial we had four flat tires and a broken handlebar. Something like that almost never happens and to finish second is almost incredible.”
A fierce climber in the mountains and competent time-trialist, Hamilton feels he could come into his element as the tour enters its more difficult stages.
”Right now the time differences are really close between the contenders,” he said. ”I believe the upcoming stages will really show who is here to win the Tour de France.”
Tuesday’s ninth stage, a 160,5km route from St Leonard-de-Noblat to Gueret in central France, features climbs of more than 700m — the highest hills so far before entering the gruelling Pyrenees begin on Friday.
”There are nine climbs and no flat after the 20th kilometer,” said Hamilton, adding that he expected the stage to be ”difficult”.
Looking ahead, he hinted that aggressive, all-out attack by the Phonak team could be the key to unsettling Armstrong and his Postal team in the mountains.
”I don’t want to give away secrets, but we have a lot of strong riders on this team,” he said. ”Certainly one tactic is to attack. I’m the leader, but I have a guy to the right of me, Oscar Sevilla, who is riding incredibly well right now.
”He’s dangerous for all the contenders. If he goes up there [in the mountains] early it’s going to force the other teams to chase,” he added. — Sapa-AP