Tyler Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Tyler Hamilton is a former American
professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medal
ist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong
who won those races.
Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer Olympics
, and again at the 2004 Summer Olympics
. In 2004, he won a gold medal at the time trial. The first doping test gave a positive result, but because the backup sample was frozen, no doping offence could be proven. After he failed further doping tests at the 2004 Vuelta a España
, Hamilton was suspended for two years.
After his suspension, Hamilton came back and became national road race champion in 2008. In 2009, Hamilton failed a doping test again, and this time he was banned for eight years, which effectively caused him to retire. In July 2010, he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury revolving around the use of performance enhancing drugs in cycling. In May 2011, Hamilton admitted that he had used banned substances in competition, and returned his gold medal. As of May 2011, the IOC has not removed him from the result, but is studying his confession.
in Holderness, New Hampshire
, where he started cycling. After graduating in 1990, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder
as a ski
racer and received a BA
in economics in 1994 (although it has been alleged that he did not graduate).
A back injury (two broken vertebrae while mountain bike training on ski jump) at the University of Colorado developmental ski team in September 1991 ended his skiing and he switched to cycling.
He turned pro in 1995 for the Montgomery Bell Cycling team which later became the U.S. Postal Service cycling team and raced for them in the 1998
, 1999
, 2000
and 2001
Tour de France
. Hamilton protected Lance Armstrong
in the mountains. He was on Armstrong's first three Tour de France winning Postal squads and quickly grew to stardom. Hamilton also acted as a scout in individual time trial
s, riding as hard as possible to provide time-split comparisons for Armstrong.
In 2001 Hamilton left U.S. Postal for Team CSC
. He was made a leader under manager Bjarne Riis
. Hamilton fractured a shoulder
in a crash in the 2002 Giro D'Italia
yet managed to finish second. Hamilton became the first American to win the Liège–Bastogne–Liège. He won the Tour de Romandie
in 2003. In the 2003 Tour de France
he cracked a collarbone in the first stage, and stayed to finish the tour. That year, he rode one of the Tour's most memorable feats. He won Stage 16 with a 142 km solo breakaway, and placed fourth overall. For his stage win, Hamilton was awarded the Coeur de Lion prize(French
for Heart of the Lion, the name of the cheese maker that sponsored the award), as the most daring racer of the stage.
In the 2004 Tour de France
Hamilton raced for Phonak Hearing Systems
. He dropped out on stage 13, after back pain mostly due to a crash on stage 6.
He had a knack for bad luck, crashing during important races, but also for being a courteous, affable, cyclist and spokesperson for the sport, especially in the United States.
His former wife, Haven Hamilton and golden retriever
Tugboat became recognizable at the races, appearing in photos and interviews.
The bicycle racing publication VeloNews reported that Hamilton and his wife Haven amicably separated in spring 2008 after nine years' marriage, and the couple subsequently divorced.
Hamilton disclosed in an interview in April 2009 that he had been treated for depression for six years.
According to Hamilton's home-town newspaper, "The Marblehead Reporter" Hamilton is engaged to Graduate student and Boston native, Lindsay Dyan. The two plan to wed summer of 2012.
by Olympic officials. Hamilton was allowed to keep his medal. Later that year, he was accused again of doping, in the Vuelta a España, and subsequently served a two-year suspension from racing. He returned to the sport for the 2007 season only to be suspended by his team after being implicated in the Operation Puerto drug scandal
. He returned a second time to the sport and retired in April 2009 when he failed an out-of-competition check for taking DHEA, as an anti-depressant, which is a banned substance.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics
in Athens
, Hamilton won the gold medal in the men's individual time trial
. That medal was placed in doubt on September 20, 2004, after he failed a test for blood doping
(receiving blood transfusions to boost performance) at the Olympics. Two days after the announcement of his positive test at Athens, the IOC
announced Hamilton would keep his medal because results could not be obtained from the second sample. The Athens lab had frozen the backup, which made it impossible to repeat the test. The Russia
n Olympic Committee appealed to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport
to give Hamilton's medal to Russian silver medalist Viatcheslav Ekimov
. However, on June 27, 2006, the court rejected the request.
Hamilton had just withdrawn from the Vuelta a España
. He won the stage 8 time trial on September 11, 2004, but left the race six days later, citing stomach problems. As winner of the stage, he had a doping test. He was told by the Union Cycliste Internationale
(UCI) on September 13, 2004 that his two samples from two days earlier showed a "foreign blood population." After supporting Hamilton, Phonak team managers withdrew their support after a second member of the team, Santiago Pérez
, was found positive for the same offense at the 2004 Vuelta a España.
The positive sample at the Olympics, and the positive test at the Vuelta were not the only indications that Hamilton was manipulating his hematocrit level. In April 2004 his blood was found to have a high ratio of hemoglobin to reticulocytes (young red blood cells), indicative of EPO or blood doping. His score was 132.9; a clean athlete would score 90. The UCI suspends a rider if the score exceeds 133. This sample also showed someone else's blood was in his bloodstream. However, neither piece of evidence in isolation constituted a positive drug test (and the test for a mixed cell population had not yet been adopted), so no action was taken.
On April 18, 2005 Hamilton was sentenced by the United States Anti-Doping Agency
to a two-year suspension, the maximum sentence for a first offense.
On May 18, 2005, he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
but, after allowing Hamilton to gather evidence, the court dismissed his appeal. Hamilton claimed the UCI-sanctioned test was insufficiently validated (and may have returned a false positive
result) and that some of the agencies involved had concealed documents that would support his case. He also maintained that, even if foreign cells were present, they were natural and not the result of a transfusion. Hamilton's lawyers said he might be a Chimera
, something Hamilton later disavowed.
Hamilton was banned until September 22, 2006, two years from the date his "B" sample in the Vuelta a España was found positive. Although current UCI ProTour
rules would have doubled his suspension (until September 22, 2008), his positive test occurred before those rules were in effect.
On May 20, 2011, after confessing to doping during his career, Hamilton returned the gold medal he won at the 2004 Olympics.
", had found that Hamilton paid more than 50,000 USD to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes between 2002 and 2004 to plan and administer his use of performance-enhancing erythropoietin
(EPO), growth hormone treatment
, blood doping, and masking agents. El País charged that Hamilton's 2003 win of Liège–Bastogne–Liège followed by days a "double" blood transfusion planned by Fuentes. The evidence presented by El País also implicated Hamilton's wife in facilitating Hamilton's doping. Fuentes was arrested with team director Manolo Saiz
in May 2006 as part of the Operación Puerto investigation.
On June 26, 2006, Hamilton stated on his website: "I was very upset to read the accusations against me and to see my name associated with the Operación Puerto investigation in Spain. I have not been treated by Dr. Fuentes. I have not done what the article alleges. In addition, I have never been contacted by authorities in Spain regarding these allegations. Therefore, it is impossible to comment on a situation I have no knowledge of."
The Copenhagen
daily, Politiken
, published further charges stemming from Operación Puerto on August 19, 2006. The article summarizes Hamilton's alleged doping program during 2003. It quotes Danish doping researcher Rasmus Damsgaard on the organization Hamilton's program would have required. It cites Bjarne Riis
, Hamilton's directeur sportif in 2003, denying knowledge of Hamilton's doping. And the article states that the reporters attempted to contact Hamilton on numerous occasions but were unable to reach him. The article's allegations are based on the rider's doping and racing calendar obtained by the paper. The calendar was seized in Operación Puerto. The doping calendar indicates use of EPO, growth hormone, testosterone, blood doping, and insulin on 114 days over seven months during the 2003 season. The racing program correlates with Hamilton's races in 2003, according to Politiken. The calendar includes two blood transfusions during the Tour de France
. “The first time before the three stages in the Alps and the second before the 12th stage -- a 47 km individual time trial,” write the reporters. The article stated that such an ambitious program would have required assistance - “at least four or five people,” according to Damsgaard.
The next day, August 20, 2006, the Belgian Dutch language
Het Laatste Nieuws
newspaper published more details of Hamilton's doping diary. Among many allegations, the article claims he took EPO 30 times between December 2002 and February 2003 while riding for Team CSC
. In 2003, claimed Het Laatste Nieuws, Hamilton used doping on 114 of his 200 racing days.
On September 14, 2006, USA Cycling announced information from the (UCI) "regarding Tyler Hamilton and his alleged involvement in 'Operación Puerto' along with a request to move forward with disciplinary action." USA Cycling referred the case to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
On April 30, 2007, La Gazzetta dello Sport
published allegations that Spanish authorities had completed a second dossier on Operation Puerto, 6000 pages long and naming 49 cyclists. Hamilton was again named, with the detail that he was #11 on Dr. Fuentes's coded list of clients.
Hamilton has never admitted wrongdoing, and his defense has been based on personal integrity. As US cyclist Bobby Julich
who finished third in the Athens time trial that Hamilton won noted:
Beginning in spring 2007, Hamilton began cycling again, having completed his two-year ban. He rode briefly for Tinkoff Credit Systems
. It supported Hamilton in the face of Operation Puerto rumors. However, on May 9, with rumors circulating about Hamilton's role in the April 30 dossier, the team dropped him for the 2007 Giro d'Italia
.
On his website, Hamilton claimed that on May 3, Tinkhoff asked him to sign a new contract "with very different financial terms than [his] existing contract," and refused to let him ride until he signed. He says he brought suit in an Italian court and won, that the team appealed and lost. The dispute is now in civil litigation.
In September 2007, Tyler competed at the US national championship in South Carolina, coming sixth in the time trial and 12th in the road race. In December, Rock Racing
said Hamilton would ride for them in 2008. Rock Racing is a professional team on the US circuit. Hamilton did not ride in the team's season-opening Tour of California because of that race's rules against riders caught doping.
Wearing his Rock Racing gear, Tyler Hamilton finished second of approximately 60 category one and two riders March 9, 2008 at a collegiate criterium in Denver's City Park.
In July 2008 he won the Tour of Qinghai Lake
in China which is a top ranked race (UCI 2.HC). In August 2008 he won the US National Road Race Championship.
banned list. He announced his decision to retire.
In June 2009, Hamilton was given an eight-year ban after testing positive for a banned anti-depressant.
, during which he also implicated Lance Armstrong
in the doping scandal.
1996
1997
1999
2000
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2008
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medal
Gold Medal
Gold Medal is the sixth studio album by the American hard rock band The Donnas, released in 2004 on Atlantic Records. It was one of the first albums released in the DualDisc format, but was recalled due to a mastering error which resulted in the final track being partially omitted from the CD...
ist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
who won those races.
Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, and again at the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
. In 2004, he won a gold medal at the time trial. The first doping test gave a positive result, but because the backup sample was frozen, no doping offence could be proven. After he failed further doping tests at the 2004 Vuelta a España
2004 Vuelta a España
The 59th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from September 4 to September 26, 2004...
, Hamilton was suspended for two years.
After his suspension, Hamilton came back and became national road race champion in 2008. In 2009, Hamilton failed a doping test again, and this time he was banned for eight years, which effectively caused him to retire. In July 2010, he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury revolving around the use of performance enhancing drugs in cycling. In May 2011, Hamilton admitted that he had used banned substances in competition, and returned his gold medal. As of May 2011, the IOC has not removed him from the result, but is studying his confession.
Biography
Hamilton attended Holderness SchoolHolderness School
The Holderness School is a private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Holderness, near Plymouth, New Hampshire in the United States. The student body of 275 is drawn from 22 U.S. states and 14 foreign countries. While Holderness operates primarily as a boarding school, it also enrolls 50...
in Holderness, New Hampshire
Holderness, New Hampshire
Holderness is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,108 at the 2010 census. An agricultural and resort area, Holderness is home to the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and is located on Squam Lake...
, where he started cycling. After graduating in 1990, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
as a ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
racer and received a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in economics in 1994 (although it has been alleged that he did not graduate).
A back injury (two broken vertebrae while mountain bike training on ski jump) at the University of Colorado developmental ski team in September 1991 ended his skiing and he switched to cycling.
He turned pro in 1995 for the Montgomery Bell Cycling team which later became the U.S. Postal Service cycling team and raced for them in the 1998
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...
, 1999
1999 Tour de France
The 1999 Tour de France was the 86th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 1999. It was won by Lance Armstrong, his first of 7 consecutive wins, the most in Tour history. There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France.The 1999 edition of Tour de...
, 2000
2000 Tour de France
The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...
and 2001
2001 Tour de France
The 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...
Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. Hamilton protected Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
in the mountains. He was on Armstrong's first three Tour de France winning Postal squads and quickly grew to stardom. Hamilton also acted as a scout in individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
s, riding as hard as possible to provide time-split comparisons for Armstrong.
In 2001 Hamilton left U.S. Postal for Team CSC
Team CSC
Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...
. He was made a leader under manager Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...
. Hamilton fractured a shoulder
Shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle , the scapula , and the humerus as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The major joint of the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint, which...
in a crash in the 2002 Giro D'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
yet managed to finish second. Hamilton became the first American to win the Liège–Bastogne–Liège. He won the Tour de Romandie
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
in 2003. In the 2003 Tour de France
2003 Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...
he cracked a collarbone in the first stage, and stayed to finish the tour. That year, he rode one of the Tour's most memorable feats. He won Stage 16 with a 142 km solo breakaway, and placed fourth overall. For his stage win, Hamilton was awarded the Coeur de Lion prize(French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for Heart of the Lion, the name of the cheese maker that sponsored the award), as the most daring racer of the stage.
In the 2004 Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...
Hamilton raced for Phonak Hearing Systems
Phonak (cycling team)
Phonak was a Swiss professional cycling team from 2000 until 2006. The team was one of 20 teams in the first UCI ProTour in 2005...
. He dropped out on stage 13, after back pain mostly due to a crash on stage 6.
He had a knack for bad luck, crashing during important races, but also for being a courteous, affable, cyclist and spokesperson for the sport, especially in the United States.
His former wife, Haven Hamilton and golden retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
Tugboat became recognizable at the races, appearing in photos and interviews.
The bicycle racing publication VeloNews reported that Hamilton and his wife Haven amicably separated in spring 2008 after nine years' marriage, and the couple subsequently divorced.
Hamilton disclosed in an interview in April 2009 that he had been treated for depression for six years.
According to Hamilton's home-town newspaper, "The Marblehead Reporter" Hamilton is engaged to Graduate student and Boston native, Lindsay Dyan. The two plan to wed summer of 2012.
Olympic gold, a doping suspension, then a doping confession
Hamilton's career was marred by blood doping scandals. The first case came in the 2004 Olympics, when he was accused of blood dopingBlood doping
Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity and...
by Olympic officials. Hamilton was allowed to keep his medal. Later that year, he was accused again of doping, in the Vuelta a España, and subsequently served a two-year suspension from racing. He returned to the sport for the 2007 season only to be suspended by his team after being implicated in the Operation Puerto drug scandal
Operación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.Media attention has focused on the small number of...
. He returned a second time to the sport and retired in April 2009 when he failed an out-of-competition check for taking DHEA, as an anti-depressant, which is a banned substance.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Hamilton won the gold medal in the men's individual time trial
Time trial
In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...
. That medal was placed in doubt on September 20, 2004, after he failed a test for blood doping
Blood doping
Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity and...
(receiving blood transfusions to boost performance) at the Olympics. Two days after the announcement of his positive test at Athens, the IOC
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
announced Hamilton would keep his medal because results could not be obtained from the second sample. The Athens lab had frozen the backup, which made it impossible to repeat the test. The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Olympic Committee appealed to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
to give Hamilton's medal to Russian silver medalist Viatcheslav Ekimov
Viatcheslav Ekimov
Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov , nicknamed Eki, is a Russian former professional racing cyclist...
. However, on June 27, 2006, the court rejected the request.
Hamilton had just withdrawn from the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
. He won the stage 8 time trial on September 11, 2004, but left the race six days later, citing stomach problems. As winner of the stage, he had a doping test. He was told by the Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
(UCI) on September 13, 2004 that his two samples from two days earlier showed a "foreign blood population." After supporting Hamilton, Phonak team managers withdrew their support after a second member of the team, Santiago Pérez
Santiago Pérez (cyclist)
Santiago Pérez Fernández is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for Barbot-Efapel....
, was found positive for the same offense at the 2004 Vuelta a España.
The positive sample at the Olympics, and the positive test at the Vuelta were not the only indications that Hamilton was manipulating his hematocrit level. In April 2004 his blood was found to have a high ratio of hemoglobin to reticulocytes (young red blood cells), indicative of EPO or blood doping. His score was 132.9; a clean athlete would score 90. The UCI suspends a rider if the score exceeds 133. This sample also showed someone else's blood was in his bloodstream. However, neither piece of evidence in isolation constituted a positive drug test (and the test for a mixed cell population had not yet been adopted), so no action was taken.
On April 18, 2005 Hamilton was sentenced by the United States Anti-Doping Agency
United States Anti-Doping Agency
The United States Anti-Doping Agency , is a non-profit organization and the national anti-doping organization for the United States. The organization is charged with managing the anti-doping program for the U.S...
to a two-year suspension, the maximum sentence for a first offense.
On May 18, 2005, he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
but, after allowing Hamilton to gather evidence, the court dismissed his appeal. Hamilton claimed the UCI-sanctioned test was insufficiently validated (and may have returned a false positive
Type I and type II errors
In statistical test theory the notion of statistical error is an integral part of hypothesis testing. The test requires an unambiguous statement of a null hypothesis, which usually corresponds to a default "state of nature", for example "this person is healthy", "this accused is not guilty" or...
result) and that some of the agencies involved had concealed documents that would support his case. He also maintained that, even if foreign cells were present, they were natural and not the result of a transfusion. Hamilton's lawyers said he might be a Chimera
Chimera (genetics)
A chimera or chimaera is a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction. If the different cells have emerged from the same zygote, the organism is called a mosaic...
, something Hamilton later disavowed.
Hamilton was banned until September 22, 2006, two years from the date his "B" sample in the Vuelta a España was found positive. Although current UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
rules would have doubled his suspension (until September 22, 2008), his positive test occurred before those rules were in effect.
On May 20, 2011, after confessing to doping during his career, Hamilton returned the gold medal he won at the 2004 Olympics.
Operación Puerto
On June 26, 2006, the Madrid daily El País alleged that the Spanish civil guard investigation of doping in Spanish professional sport, "Operación PuertoOperación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.Media attention has focused on the small number of...
", had found that Hamilton paid more than 50,000 USD to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes between 2002 and 2004 to plan and administer his use of performance-enhancing erythropoietin
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
(EPO), growth hormone treatment
Growth hormone treatment
Growth hormone treatment refers to the use of growth hormone in medical treatment. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. In the past, growth hormone was extracted from human pituitary glands. GH is now produced by...
, blood doping, and masking agents. El País charged that Hamilton's 2003 win of Liège–Bastogne–Liège followed by days a "double" blood transfusion planned by Fuentes. The evidence presented by El País also implicated Hamilton's wife in facilitating Hamilton's doping. Fuentes was arrested with team director Manolo Saiz
Manolo Saiz
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional road bicycle racing teams, first called Team ONCE, then Liberty Seguros-Würth, Astana-Würth, and lastly Astana Team.Saiz was a hands-on manager and directeur sportif...
in May 2006 as part of the Operación Puerto investigation.
On June 26, 2006, Hamilton stated on his website: "I was very upset to read the accusations against me and to see my name associated with the Operación Puerto investigation in Spain. I have not been treated by Dr. Fuentes. I have not done what the article alleges. In addition, I have never been contacted by authorities in Spain regarding these allegations. Therefore, it is impossible to comment on a situation I have no knowledge of."
The Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
daily, Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
, published further charges stemming from Operación Puerto on August 19, 2006. The article summarizes Hamilton's alleged doping program during 2003. It quotes Danish doping researcher Rasmus Damsgaard on the organization Hamilton's program would have required. It cites Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...
, Hamilton's directeur sportif in 2003, denying knowledge of Hamilton's doping. And the article states that the reporters attempted to contact Hamilton on numerous occasions but were unable to reach him. The article's allegations are based on the rider's doping and racing calendar obtained by the paper. The calendar was seized in Operación Puerto. The doping calendar indicates use of EPO, growth hormone, testosterone, blood doping, and insulin on 114 days over seven months during the 2003 season. The racing program correlates with Hamilton's races in 2003, according to Politiken. The calendar includes two blood transfusions during the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. “The first time before the three stages in the Alps and the second before the 12th stage -- a 47 km individual time trial,” write the reporters. The article stated that such an ambitious program would have required assistance - “at least four or five people,” according to Damsgaard.
The next day, August 20, 2006, the Belgian Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
Het Laatste Nieuws
Het Laatste Nieuws
Het Laatste Nieuws is a Dutch language newspaper based in Brussels, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of De Persgroep, and has a circulation of 292,410 copies, making it the most popular newspaper in Flanders and Belgium.- Comics :During World War II, The...
newspaper published more details of Hamilton's doping diary. Among many allegations, the article claims he took EPO 30 times between December 2002 and February 2003 while riding for Team CSC
Team CSC
Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...
. In 2003, claimed Het Laatste Nieuws, Hamilton used doping on 114 of his 200 racing days.
On September 14, 2006, USA Cycling announced information from the (UCI) "regarding Tyler Hamilton and his alleged involvement in 'Operación Puerto' along with a request to move forward with disciplinary action." USA Cycling referred the case to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
On April 30, 2007, La Gazzetta dello Sport
La Gazzetta dello Sport
La Gazzetta dello Sport is an Italian newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. It was first published on April 3, 1896, allowing it to cover the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens...
published allegations that Spanish authorities had completed a second dossier on Operation Puerto, 6000 pages long and naming 49 cyclists. Hamilton was again named, with the detail that he was #11 on Dr. Fuentes's coded list of clients.
Hamilton has never admitted wrongdoing, and his defense has been based on personal integrity. As US cyclist Bobby Julich
Bobby Julich
Robert Julich, most commonly referred to as Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the 1998 Tour de France race, but has since ridden...
who finished third in the Athens time trial that Hamilton won noted:
- "It goes against everything I've ever seen or known from the guy. But the rest of us at the Olympics passed the test. Why didn't he? I'm sick of people who cheat, sick of cleaning up their mess and trying to explain it. There is heavy evidence against him. With that much evidence, I don't know how he's going to get out of it."
After the ban
Tinkoff Credit Systems
Tinkoff Credit Systems was a professional continental cycling team based in Italy that had UCI Professional Continental status, raced in UCI Continental Circuits races and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events...
. It supported Hamilton in the face of Operation Puerto rumors. However, on May 9, with rumors circulating about Hamilton's role in the April 30 dossier, the team dropped him for the 2007 Giro d'Italia
2007 Giro d'Italia
The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one was an individual time trial...
.
On his website, Hamilton claimed that on May 3, Tinkhoff asked him to sign a new contract "with very different financial terms than [his] existing contract," and refused to let him ride until he signed. He says he brought suit in an Italian court and won, that the team appealed and lost. The dispute is now in civil litigation.
In September 2007, Tyler competed at the US national championship in South Carolina, coming sixth in the time trial and 12th in the road race. In December, Rock Racing
Rock Racing
Rock Racing is a cycling team founded in 2007 by Michael Ball. The team is affiliated with Ball's Rock & Republic clothing. Rock Racing received media attention for hiring outcasts in the sport, including those tainted by performance enhancing drug scandals...
said Hamilton would ride for them in 2008. Rock Racing is a professional team on the US circuit. Hamilton did not ride in the team's season-opening Tour of California because of that race's rules against riders caught doping.
Wearing his Rock Racing gear, Tyler Hamilton finished second of approximately 60 category one and two riders March 9, 2008 at a collegiate criterium in Denver's City Park.
In July 2008 he won the Tour of Qinghai Lake
Tour of Qinghai Lake
Tour of Qinghai Lake is an elite men's professional road bicycle racing event held annually near Qinghai Lake, China. The race is rated at the highest level for a multi-day stage race by the Union Cycliste Internationale and since 2005, has been part of the UCI Asia Tour.- Past results :...
in China which is a top ranked race (UCI 2.HC). In August 2008 he won the US National Road Race Championship.
Second positive test
On April 17, 2009 it was revealed that Tyler had failed an out of competition drug test; this time for a banned steroid (DHEA), which he claimed to be taking for anti-depression purposes despite knowing that it is on the World Anti-Doping AgencyWorld Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the "Declaration of Lausanne", to promote, coordinate and...
banned list. He announced his decision to retire.
In June 2009, Hamilton was given an eight-year ban after testing positive for a banned anti-depressant.
Tyler Hamilton Training
As of September 2009, Hamilton has been providing private training services to other cyclists.Confession to Doping
Hamilton confessed to doping during his racing career during testimony to a federal grand jury investigating doping in cycling (in particular Lance Armstrong). Hamilton made this confession public on May 20, 2011 in an email to friends and family, after a taping of the TV news show 60 Minutes60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, during which he also implicated Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
in the doping scandal.
Major achievements
1993- Captained University of Colorado at Boulder road cycling team to NCCANCCAThe National Collegiate Cycling Association is a division of USA Cycling and the governing body of collegiate cycling in the US. Constituent conferences are:*ACCC: Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference*RMCCC: Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference...
championship; named collegiate cyclist of the year.
1996
- Stage 3 and overall, Teleflex Tour
- Overall, Fitchburg Longsjo ClassicFitchburg Longsjo ClassicFitchburg Longsjo Classic is an annual road bicycle racing stage race held in and around Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. It is notably the second oldest cycling race in the United States....
1997
- Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.-Background:...
1999
- Stage 4b and overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
- Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
2000
- Stage 4, 5 and overall, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Stage 4, Ronde van NederlandRonde van NederlandThe Ronde van Nederland is a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 the tour was replaced by the Eneco Tour of Benelux....
2002
- Stage 14 win and 2nd overall, Giro d'Italia2002 Giro d'ItaliaThe 2002 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 85th running of the race, was held from 11 May to 2 June 2002. It consisted of a prologue in Groningen plus 20 stages with two rest days, for a total of 3,354 km, ridden at an average speed of 37.567 km/h. It was won by the Italian Paolo...
2003
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- Stage 5 and overall, Tour de RomandieTour de RomandieThe Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
- Stage 16, 2003 Tour de France2003 Tour de FranceThe 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...
2004
- 1st Time Trial, 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
- Stage 5 and overall, Tour de RomandieTour de RomandieThe Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
- Stage 8, Vuelta a EspañaVuelta a EspañaThe Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
(subsequently stripped for doping violation)
2005
- Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
2006
- Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
2008
- Stage 8 and overall, Tour of Qinghai LakeTour of Qinghai LakeTour of Qinghai Lake is an elite men's professional road bicycle racing event held annually near Qinghai Lake, China. The race is rated at the highest level for a multi-day stage race by the Union Cycliste Internationale and since 2005, has been part of the UCI Asia Tour.- Past results :...
- National Road Race2008 National Cycling ChampionshipsThe 2008 national road cycling championships begin in January in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the other national championships do not take place until June or July.-Jerseys:...
, Cycling ChampionUSPRO National ChampionshipsUSPRO National Championships is the name given by USA Cycling, the United States national governing body of cycling, for a series of national championships.*United States National Road Race Championships*United States National Criterium Championships...