Road Bike Racing - Hamilton's Fracture a Publicity Stunt?

I knew there was a reason Arnie showed up at the TDF. It was to coach Tyler on his acting skills. At least that is what Walter Godefroot seems to imply in this article by:

www.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2003/jul03/jul17news3

"Riis bothered by speculation"...Vent on Walter. The Belgian team managers are all jealous of Johan's instant success.

Man, the world is full of doubters. What a jerk-off.

probably not a publicity stunt but the amount of painkillers they must be giving him will be enough to effectively end his season. My doctor reckons it'll take about 4-5 months for his blood to purge the medication from his system.
So I reckon if his seasons f***ed then he may as well go for it.

It's always strange how the Tour is- when someone is doing well, the immediate speculation is that someone is cheating (in this case, lying). No matter that these cyclists spend months and months training for this event...

:rolleyes:

Who is this Riis anyway?

Originally posted by Koffee Brown

Who is this Riis anyway?

He is he director of the CSC team.

...and 1996 tour winner!

Actually, I doubt that he is taking many pain killers at all. With the tour's strict doping controls Tyler can probbly take little more than an asprin.

-Matt-

Typical French BS. A guy I know has a French neighbor. All this guy says about Lance is that he is on a performance-enhancing drug that the tests have not been designed to detect.

Waa Waaa Waaa! The French can whine all they want and try all this backhanded crap. But they still just won't admit they're not Napoleon's empire anymore.

Bjarne Riis, Messieur 60 percent :rolleyes: His nickname in 1996. His hematocrite percentage was 60 percent but at that time that was not yet illegal. Yet it smells like EPO

Tyler's best "publicity stunt" so far this year has been winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He's pure class.

I don't question the fact that he has the fracture. But this is probably one of the main reasons why he is still pushing on:

"Directed by Academy Award nominee Bayley Silleck ("Cosmic Voyage") with senior producer JoAnna Baldwin Mallory and line producer Daniel Ferguson , BRAIN POWER will explore the extraordinary processes of the human brain by following world-class, professional cyclist, Tyler Hamilton as he trains and participates in the ultimate global sports event–the Tour de France–one of the world’s most grueling competitions.....Audiences will discover just how fundamental the brain is to all human enterprise and witness the formidable power of Tyler’s brain as he competes, navigates the course, works with his team, executes a strategy to win, and, finally, engenders the sheer will to finish successfully."

A lof of things are at stake if he doesn't continue. I think (and I believe the producer of that film also thinks) that the fracture and the fact that he is not giving up will make the IMAX movie more exciting.

http://www.bmz.net/articles/?uniq=159

http://www.slowtwitch.com/headings/sciencebiz/industry.html

I'm going off topic but don't some people naturally have a high blood hematocrit level? I read that adult men usually have between 42-54%, and that the level can be quite higher if a person is dehydrated.
When it comes to hematocrit, I think each rider should have recorded levels... so when Riis, for example, has 60% before the start of a stage, and he has %50 through the off-season, its obvious he is using something.


Originally posted by flyefisher
Typical French BS. A guy I know has a French neighbor. All this guy says about Lance is that he is on a performance-enhancing drug that the tests have not been designed to detect.

Waa Waaa Waaa! The French can whine all they want and try all this backhanded crap. But they still just won't admit they're not Napoleon's empire anymore.

Because one french person thinks lance is doping, you think that all french people think the same? I hope you aren't that stupid.

I don't understand why some of you people are getting into Bjarne Riis - Tyler is his teams main man for goodness sake. Their handshake in the final 300m of Stage 16 was beautiful so I think a collective virtual sorry to Mr. Riis is in order from some people.

Grodefoot on the other hand should be renamed Mouthfoot. Telekom invested buckets with a new look team for this Tour and seem to be feeling the pinch. They shouldn't though with probably Vino and possibly even Zabel on the final podium. Now he is backpeddling and saying he was misquoted.

Hamilton is but one incredible example in this incredible Tour. The Tour's main doc has stated that the fracture is geniune - Hamilton is just lucky there has been no lateral movement of the clavicle.

Poor bugger can only sleep lying on his back which however is better than after Stage 1 when he got no sleep at all.

Boy did this thread get off target. As Jaimie points out Riis is Tyler's team director. He LOVES what Tyler's doing and was defending him from other people's insinuations.

What's with the anti-French stuff. No one involved in the story is French. Hamilton's American, Riis is, I believe Belgian and won the Tour riding for a German team and the person making the insinuations, Godefroot is German.

If there were no France there'd be no Tour (doh!) and our sport/avocation/obsession would be much less than it is now. Think about it.

I'm looking forward to that IMAX btw.

Ok, just a couple of quick notes for the audience that is not familiar with the actors. The words, "Riis bothered by speculation" was a reference to the article title. Riis is Danish. Riis is Hamilton's boss. He's is ostensibly one of the good guys on stage.

Walter Godefroot is the team manager of Telekom, Ullrich's old boss. Godefroot is an ex-pro who has eaten himself into something that vaguely resembles a boiled beet. He is Belgian, and a nemesis of the Belgian manager of the USPS team, Johan Bruyneel. Godefroot is relatively successful as a team manager, but not as successful as Bruyneel is and in this Tour, some would say that Riis has out coached him. Godefroot and Telekom went out and spent big bucks on Botero, Evans, Salvodelli, and Vino to win this TDF. All of Godefroots talent has fallen to the wayside save Vino and possibly Zabel, who may still win the green jersey.

But without a doubt, Tyler, and by extension his team, CSC, have stolen the hearts of the fans and the media in this TDF, detracting from the media coverage for Walter and his boys in pink. So, he is a little embittered and doing and saying things to provoke attention. Things like saying that Tyler and Riis are faking it.

Originally posted by don d.
Godefroot is an ex-pro who has eaten himself into something that vaguely resembles a boiled beet.

:roflmao:

so let me get this straight.

tyler feins an injury by crashing out on the 1st stage of the tour. a race he has exceled in in the past and now is a team's main man.

then he has this injury conjured up during the afternoon and evening, after he was asked to pee in a cup and had to take x-rays in a french hospital.

hey, i love a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but....

Don,

Thanks for the nationality correction with Godefroot. At least I was right when I stated no one involved is French.

You're right about Telekom underachieving. Zabel is a constant who will always perform but probably can't win Green anymore. A motivated Vino has saved the race for them.

Tyler is one man who can take an extreme amount of pain, and deal with it. The fact, that he has broken his back, and fractured his collarbones, and refractured his collarbone is just hard to understand how he can endure the pain.

I guess that goes back to individual differences that each of us have. All I can say is that he must have a high tolerance to pain. Also he has great determination, which all of the cyclists must have to be able to compete in events like the Tour de France.

These guys kinda remind me of the ironman. I just wished that I had the genetic makeup that these guys have. I have the motivation & dedication,and a lot of determination, I just don't have the talent.