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Several Americans are leading the way Posted: Thursday July 25, 2002 12:05 PM
Barring unforeseen disaster in the next two days, Lance Armstrong will become the first American to win the Tour de France four times. But he is not the only Yankee making history on the Tour this year. For the first time, several teams have American leaders -- those riders who have the talent, versatility and strength to make a run for a podium finish. Tyler Hamilton, 31, who helped Armstrong win all three of his previous Tours as one of his domestiques, signed on with the Dutch team CSC-Tiscali as a leader after last year's race. In his first big outing with the team this spring, he finished second in the Giro d'Italia -- the first top-three finish there by an American in 14 years -- despite crashing three times and suffering a broken bone and torn tendon in his shoulder and a gash in his back. Though his shoulder injury kept him out of any prep races between the Giro and the Tour, Hamilton had hopes of finishing in the Tour's top five. But one bad day climbing the Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenées during Stage 12 -- probably a combination of too much heat and not enough calories -- dashed those dreams. "I'm disappointed but realistic," Hamilton said after that stage, in which he finished 38th -- eight minutes behind stage winner Armstrong -- and dropped from 11th to 22th in the general classification. "This is my first time doing this, both the Giro and Tour. To ride for the general classification in two big tours, that means for six weeks, you can't have one bad day. For one tour, it's possible. I went about four and a half weeks without having a really bad day. I needed another 10 days to be consistent and it just didn't happen." Even so, Hamilton is enjoying his new role as head honcho. Except for the rare errand, he no longer has to fetch water or food for teammates or do the other grunt work of the domestique. "You can't even compare the two roles," he said. "It's like apples and oranges. Being a leader has been a great opportunity for me, and there are many, many benefits. For one thing, you work a lot less in the day-to-day thing and the whole team supports you. They have been keeping me as fresh as possible for the crucial part of the race. Also, you get to achieve a result like second in the Giro. If you are in the other role, it's not a possibility. It's nice to be able to do a little bit for yourself." Following Thursday's Stage 17, Hamilton stood in 18th place, nine spots behind another American, 28-year-old Levi Leipheimer. A U.S. Postal alum who had never been selected to ride in a Tour de France, Leipheimer hadn't shown big-tour podium potential until he placed third in the Tour of Spain last fall. Suddenly he could command bigger money than Postal had budgeted for. So Leipheimer signed on as a leader for Rabobank for his first ever Tour. Leipheimer showed impressive strength through the Tour's mountain stages -- he finished sixth in Stage 16, the final alpine stage, a particularly brutal stretch that included three hors catégorie (beyond category) climbs -- and was in ninth place in the general classification after Thursday's action. Should Leipheimer hold on, this Tour will be the first to have two Americans among the top-10 finishers since 1991, when three-time Tour winner Greg Lemond came in seventh and Andy Hampsten placed eighth. "Being the leader does have its benefits," said Leipheimer. "But there are benefits to being the other guy, too. You don't have all the responsibility and pressure. I knew there was a possibility I'd fail as a team leader, and they have put a lot of effort into protecting me. All I can do is my best, and so far, I think, that's been pretty good." Sports Illustrated senior writer Kelli Anderson is covering the Tour de France for the magazine.
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