An Interview with Cyclist Tyler Hamilton

For the first time since the end of his two-year doping suspension, Tyler Hamilton is competing again in the United States.

Hamilton, 36, the reigning Olympic time trial gold medalist, is riding for the Italian/Russian Tinkoff Credit Systems squad. And with Hamilton's assistance, the team claimed first-day attention when Italian veteran Daniele Contrini rode to a solo win in the opening stage April 16 of the Tour de Georgia.

Although he twice won the Mt. Washington Hilll Climb (a non-sanctioned event) and rode as a specially established part of an record-attempting Ironman-distacne triathlon team (the team didn't set a record), Hamilton hadn't raced in the country's highest U.S. level of cycling since the 2001 San Francisco Gran Prix.

Hamilton, who was suspended for the presence of blood other than his own in the his system following the 2004 Summer Olympics and Tour of Spain, spoke to the media following the stage a meeting room at the race hotel.

Smiling and at ease, Hamilton answered a wide-ranging array of topics.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Question: What are your goals for this season?

Tyler Hamilton: The Tour of Italy. Everything is geared toward to the Tour of Italy. But I may do some spring classics.

Question: Your team is in the lead of the race with Contrini winning the first stage. Will you try and defend the (leader's) jersey or take the race lead later yourself?

Hamilton: We'll talk about it tonight, with respect to the jersey. But it's early in the race and we'll see what's best for the team.

Question: You only have six guys on the team here, why? (The other teams began the race with eight riders.)

Hamilton: We'll we only have 18 guys on the team and two are out with sick are injured, so we really only have 16 guys and there are other races, including one that just finished yesterday and we're trying to field three teams, so we're spread a little thin."

Question: What you think of the level of cycling in the U.S.?

Hamilton: I have a lot of respect for these riders. The racing here is . . . if you think you're going to come over to race is the U.S. and it will be an absolute cakewalk, you're wrong. These guys are strong and they train incredible hard. The gap between European races and the domestic scene is much narrower than it used to be.

Question: How is your (Multiple Sclerosis) foundation doing?

Answer: It's going OK. It was only in existence for nine months before the situation in 2004. So since then, we've kept our heads above water and we keep moving forward and kept doing good things. But certainly, it was a little bit of a struggle at times.

Question: What's it like with Dmitri Konyshev (the Russian team director of Tinkoff who recently retired after racing as a pro for two decades)?

Hamilton: It's been great having him around. I think of Dmitri as more of rider than a coach. He just retired. I don't know what Contrini said but basically he was there at the breakaway. He told him with about 25 kilometers to go to take a little break and take time to eat and drink and then basically told him when to attack. That's the nice thing about having a tour radio. Certainly, Contrini had the legs, but sometimes you need a little encouragement.