Feb 12, 2006
What Next for Hamilton?
The news is better reported from other sources and it has been out for at least a day. Tyler Hamilton is now out of the appeals process and will have to sit out the rest of his suspension. There is a possibility that his suspension will end on September 22 2006 which is 2 years after Phonak issued the suspension. This would allow Tyler a chance to race in the World Championships road race. The course in Austria fits a rider with Hamilton’s abilities. So this could be a possible point of redemption going into 2007.
For 2007 and 2008 Tyler cannot sign with a ProTour team and cannot compete in ProTour events. That leaves a few possibilities still available for Tyler. He could signup for a European continental team such as Panaria, Barloworld, Agributel or others. One major problem would be that bigger squads are hoping to get the ProTour promotion if a slot were to become available. The ProTour would not look to highly on a team with a tainted Tyler on the roster.
One strong option would be for Tyler to come back and race the domestic circuit. He could help build more interest in continental racing on this side of the pond. He could also try to use his sponsorship connections to start a developmental team. Seems that his strengths would be better suited to this type of endeavor than to race anonymously in smaller European races when he was once considered a Tour de France contender.
While, I would like to see Tyler give back on the US circut, he does have another option which I think Roberto Heras is hoping for. Tyler could join a top team hoping the current Grand Tour/ProTour rift continues. He then is able to ride in the 11 races that were on the ProTour Calendar. These include the three grand tours plus some of the classics like others Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.