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July 17, 2004
Hamilton, Zubeldia, Menchov abandon on Stage 13
BBC SPORT | Hamilton out of Tour
Tyler Hamilton pulled out of the 2004 Tour de France on the same day his foundation is sponsoring a big-screen viewing of the stage to Plateau de Beille.
"I'm still not 100% since the crash last week. The legs are just not turning right," said Hamilton.In his absence, his Phonak team's ambitions look set to be headed by Santos Gonzalez, who is ninth overall.
Also dropping out today was Haimar Zubeldia, Iban Mayo's teammate on the Euskaltel-Euskadi team. Zubeldia was 5th in last year's Tour, and had been suffering from a knee injury.
Also also dropping out was Denis Menchov of Illes Balears-Banesto, who won last year's white jersey for the best rider 25 and under. Menchov finished 7th yesterday, but also had knee problems.
Update:
Hamilton on the TV coverage:
"I had the perfect team, I have no excuses. It's just unfortunate I had the accident."
"It's a sad day. I've never dropped out of the Tour. When they mentioned it this morning that I should do it, it wasn't even on my mind."
Hamilton said he just can't use his lower back on climbs, and couldn't see the purpose in continuing with no likely role in the race.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 17, 2004 in Denis Menchov, Top Stories, Tour news, Tyler Freaking Hamilton | Permalink
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» Several Lance Armstrong Rivals Are Now "a la Maison" from Operation Gadget
Over the weekend, several of Lance Armstrong's rivals abandoned the race including Tyler Hamilton, Haimar Zubeldia, and Denis Menchov. You know it had to be bad if Hamilton abandoned on a day when his foundation was running a fundraiser across... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 19, 2004 8:14:38 AM
» Several Lance Armstrong Rivals Are Now "a la Maison" from Operation Gadget
Over the weekend, several of Lance Armstrong's rivals abandoned the race including Tyler Hamilton, Haimar Zubeldia, and Denis Menchov. You know it had to be bad if Hamilton abandoned on a day when his foundation was running a fundraiser across... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 19, 2004 1:08:29 PM
Comments
I was a little bit shocked when I read that Hamilton dropped. After last year's tour, I was really expecting a lot of competition for Lance. It's just such a shame.
I wonder how much of his leaving the Tour was because of his dog's passing?
Posted by: mashby at Jul 17, 2004 9:45:30 AM
*cries*
I dunno, I just hate all the news out of this year's Tour. I'm not enjoying it at all compared to last year, the year I became a fan, though I keep watching!
Posted by: lancefan at Jul 17, 2004 9:57:00 AM
Dang. That's really too bad.
Posted by: David McCreath at Jul 17, 2004 11:49:40 AM
Shocked, stunned, and sad. Something special will be missing from the race now that Ty's out. It's still an epic race, though. Good luck next year, Tyler! I'll be routing for you and your team the rest of this race and next year!!! You'll be missed.
Posted by: seabrookil at Jul 17, 2004 12:35:58 PM
Tyler Freaking Hamilton is a tremendous talent. Finishing the TDF with a FRACTURED collarbone makes him pretty much beyond criticism. But Tyler's never really clicked with me, and he strikes me as a bit of a drama queen. But on the other hand, if my dog died I'd probably ride around wearing his tags around my neck, too.
Posted by: Freddy at Jul 17, 2004 3:56:54 PM
I wonder how much of his leaving the Tour was because of his dog's passing?
Ah, how about none?
Phonak has a multi-million dollar budget. The TdF is the Big Show. If TH hadn't crashed (several times, I might add) he'd be challenging LA and Basso at every opportunity.
To reduce his abandonment to the loss of Tugboat shorts TH of the massive amount of credit he's due.
Posted by: Matthew at Jul 17, 2004 4:05:48 PM
While it was very sad to hear the news about Tyler losing his dog (I fully understand as the "mom" to two Golden's myself) I concur with Matthew. The problem with Tyler is and always has been staying on his bike. Lance was asked pre race about Tyler as a contender and he was ciriticized for mentioning that he has a tendency to get injured. Even with USPS Hamilton had a propensity for accidnets. It was a shame though after all he went through with the broken collarbone last year as he is such a great person.
Posted by: Sheila at Jul 17, 2004 7:44:13 PM
I don't think Tyler droped out because of his dog, I think it had a lot to do with the olympics comming up. He probably thought if he couldn't win the tour might as well rest and try for a gold medal.
Posted by: ray at Jul 18, 2004 9:38:00 PM
