Tyler Hamilton: The Secret Race: Book Review

The Secret Race, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle, Bantam Books, 2012.

The Secret Race is a sad story of a poor prodigal son from Marblehead, Massachusetts, a "C" level cyclist who rode Paniagua: (a "Spanish status name for a servant who worked for his board and lodging") but who with increasing improvements in cycling performance was promoted to the "A" squad.  "A" squad riders were considered elite Tour de France riders, and they used large amounts of performance-enhancing substances distributed in white lunch paper sacks under the direction of debased doctors.  Only after Tyler Hamilton was permanently banned from professional cycling for repeated doping violations after years of cheating, did his guilty conscious prompt him to return to honesty with a full confession and disclosure of the illegal doping that was rampant on the United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team.  The Secret Race summarizes examples of doping during Tyler Hamilton's days with Lance Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service Professional Cycling Team, but, after the admission by Lance Armstrong to doping, these examples are of secondary importance.  What is of primary importance is the cognition and behavior of Tyler Hamilton, not a cheap and tawdry psychological examination of what may have been driving Lance Armstrong.

We start at the end, not the beginning, at the Cache-Cache in Aspen, Colorado, and we have to ask the question of why Tyler Hamilton and his attorney visited an establishment known to be a favorite haunt of Lance Armstrong after Tyler Hamilton claimed on the news program 60 Minutes that he personally witnessed Lance Armstrong using performance-enhancing drugs?  The answer is not as propounded in The Secret Race as a simple entertainment for friends.  No.  Tyler Hamilton took people along as witnesses to an explosive event he attempted to provoke.  Remember, there was Jeff Novitzky and a secret Federal Grand Jury investigation into possible criminal conduct by the United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team and Lance Armstrong, and there was a distinct possibility Tyler Hamilton would be called to testify for the prosecution.  A confrontation with Lance Armstrong at the Cache-Cache with witnesses would lay the groundwork for a new theatrical performance Tyler Hamilton desired: The Intimidated Witness.  Predictably, the encounter at the Cache-Cache generated international headlines.  Tyler Hamilton's lawyer claimed Lance Armstrong told Tyler Hamilton if Tyler Hamilton testifies in court to any alleged wrongdoing by U.S. Postal Service cycling teammates, staff, doctors, or other people possibly involved in a doping conspiracy; Lance Armstrong's legal team would "rip his lungs out."  Tyler Hamilton's ploy would have worked to perfection except for one fly in the ointment, no one could clearly hear the conversation.  So there was no absolute proof Lance Armstrong threatened Tyler Hamilton.  Bad Karma.  Undaunted by this flaw in the plan, Tyler Hamilton spun one of the most paranoid delusions in the history of cycling.  Lance Armstrong was everywhere, tapping his phone, hacking his computer, reading his e-mails; the lady who glanced at Tyler Hamilton in the grocery store was one of Lance Armstrong's moles.  When Tyler Hamilton shaved in the morning, Lance Armstrong's grinning face was reflected in the glass.  Tyler Hamilton repeatedly phoned Jeff Novitzky, "Lance is everywhere!"  If Jeff Novitzky would have placed Tyler Hamilton in the federal witness protection program, Tyler Hamilton would have been ecstatic!  But, an unexpected event occurred that derailed Tyler Hamilton's performance.  Suddenly the secret Federal Grand Jury was disbanded and the criminal investigation was terminated!  Tyler Hamilton was so angry at this development he "punched the refrigerator."  Without an indictment of Lance Armstrong Tyler Hamilton expected daily, there would be no trial, thus Tyler Hamilton would not be needed as a prosecution witness, thus there was no reason for Lance Armstrong to continue his intimidation surveillance.  Bummer.

There is a second possible reason for Tyler Hamilton's journey to the Cache-Cache; he went there to deliver a message.  But first we must examine some of the historical record presented in The Secret Race.  Pay special attention when the UCI called Tyler Hamilton to appear at their corporate offices in Aigle, Switzerland, and the subsequent malfunction of Tyler Hamilton's paranoid delusional mind.  Dr. Mario Zorzoli, UCI chief medical officer,* called Tyler Hamilton into his office and informed him blood tests had revealed a double red cell population consistent with a blood transfusion from another person.  Tyler Hamilton called the tests an "impossible" error because he knew he only used autologous blood transfusions of his own blood collected, stored, and modified by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes.  Tyler Hamilton incorrectly reasoned since there had never been a problem with any of Tyler Hamilton's autologous blood bags, because blood doping had never been previously detected, there could never be a problem.  Dr. Zorzoli stated the possible blood irregularities detected in Tyler Hamilton's blood could be accounted for by other medical reasons, but Dr. Zorzoli warned Tyler Hamilton he was a marked man.  When Tyler Hamilton returned home to Girona, Spain, a letter from Dr. Mario Zorzoli was waiting for him that repeated the warning his blood profiles would be carefully monitored.  Dr. Zorzoli's warning letter was dated June 10, the same day Tyler Hamilton set a personal time trial record up Mont Ventoux and put "1:22 on Lance Armstrong in less than an hour."

Then there was an uncanny number of bizarre circumstances that were misconstrued, but these circumstances would sow the seeds of the eventual destruction of Tyler Hamilton.  Floyd Landis spins a yarn?

"Lance called the UCI on you.  He called Hein Verbruggen after Ventoux.  Said you guys [Team Phonak] and [Iban] Mayo were on some new shit, told Hein Verbruggen to get you.  He knew they'd called you in.  He's been talking shit nonstop.  And I think you have the right to know."  P.211.

Tyler Hamilton rationalizes Dr. Zorzoli's warning in this completely irrational way after the information provided by Floyd Landis:

Now it all made sense: the trip to Aigle, Switzerland, the weird meeting with Dr. Zorzoli.  It all had been because of Lance.  Lance had called the UCI on June 10, the day I'd beaten him on Ventoux, the same warning letter they'd sent to Girona, Spain.  Lance called Hein and Hein called me. P.211.

Talk about an odd coincidence!  The warning letter was based on solid scientific evidence of heterologous red blood cells due to a probable mix up of blood bags by Jose Maria Batres who was an assistant to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, but Tyler Hamilton has rationalized the whole episode as a set up by Lance Armstrong.

Lance called the UCI on you.  Told Hein on you.  He's been talking shit nonstop. P.212.

Tyler Hamilton reasoned Lance Armstrong was a rat who finked Team Phonak to the UCI.  Tyler Hamilton, the $900,000 Phonak team leader and 2004 Tour de France favorite contender rode up to 'le patron' Lance Armstrong during Stage 1 of the 2004 Tour de France, and when Lance Armstrong opened his mouth to speak, Lance Armstrong was abruptly cut off by a legendary Tyler Hamilton steroid rage infused tirade:

Tyler Hamilton to Lance Armstrong: Shut the fuck up Lance, you piece of shit, shut the fuck up.  I know you.  I know what you did.  I know you've been ratting me out, talking shit about our team.  [Phonak]  Worry about yourself, because we are going to fucking kill you!  P.212; italics added.

Tyler Hamilton thought he would win the 2003 Tour de France going away.  But bad karma intervened again.  He was mixed up in an early stage peloton crash and fractured his collar bone.  His date with destiny to become a Tour de France champion was derailed again, although Tyler Hamilton did finish fourth in the general classification and win one stage of the race.

Back to the Cache-Cache.  Tyler Hamilton went to the Cache-Cache to send Lance Armstrong a message, something along these lines.  Listen you rat.  Me and my new team, Jeff Novitzky, the secret federal grand jury, the Justice Department, Travis Tygart, USADA: worry about yourself, because we are going to fucking kill you!  Like some tragic Shakespearean jester, Tyler Hamilton could not resist singing arias about the certain demise of the king.  He arranged the "accidental" meeting with the deliberate intention of provoking an argument, baiting the bear, savoring the moment.  Tyler Hamilton would finally have revenge on the rat who took away his Olympic time trial gold medal, the rat who foiled his destiny to win the Tour de France, the rat who ruined his life.

And it was all a misplaced paranoid delusion.  The UCI didn't need Lance Armstrong to convict Tyler Hamilton of doping.  Tyler Hamilton was obsessed with his blood bags, even after he, Iban Mayo, and Jan Ullrich all got sick with a high fever during the 2004 Tour de France from the blood that came from the laboratory of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes.  After all, Tyler Hamilton realized he got a bad bag when he urinated dead red blood cells all night during the 2004 Tour de France.  How could a man with such a sophisticated doping education not realize the danger and fit the pieces of the puzzle together, how did such a superb athlete become so dependent upon dope that he failed to reason out the consequences of his behavior?

Easy.  For the same reason these supermen bonk.  The muscles don't need high hematocrit, they don't need steroids, they need glucose; a fact they forget when they are flying high and bonk.  Cheaters need a stable mind and a good amount of luck.  Most of all dopers need a good doctor and people who keep their mouths shut.  Tyler Hamilton was evolving from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde and eventually, he would have offended someone and been caught even if his precious doping doctor had not gotten careless.

Tyler Hamilton: a man of bad karma, manipulative tendencies, and self-delusions; was an attention seeker who Lance Armstrong in the end refused to entertain.  When Lance Armstrong refused to fight USADA, Tyler Hamilton's influence ended.  Tyler Hamilton was counting on years of arbitration.

Conclusion:

There may be further civil litigation against Lance Armstrong since people are lined up for miles to sue him, so don't despair Tyler.  They may need your services yet.  And you are a despicable enough person to provide them.

Footnote:

*Dr. Mario Zorzoli, chief medical officer of the UCI was fired after he released Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France doping control forms to Damien Ressiot of L'Equipe, during the 2004 research tests done at LNDD that reportedly found recombinant EPO in Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France "B" urine samples.  This "B" sample results Travis T. Tygart later called "flaming positives."  Unfortunately, the confirmation "A" samples were depleted in 1999 and unavailable for testing.  Under WADA Code an adverse analytical finding cannot result solely from the "B" samples.  Travis Tygart exploited the unsophistication of his audience to spin a "white lie."

U.S. Postal Doping Prior To Lance Armstrong

The 1998 Tour de France exploded when Willy Voet was caught at a French frontier post with a clearly marked Festina team car full of performance enhancing drugs.  Later French darling Richard Virenque admitted that he used performance enhancing drugs using the same logic that Lance Armstrong used, "It was merely preparation for the race," and "If you don't test positive you are not cheating."  But what is even more interesting is this statement written by Olivier Hamoir In Lille in his article, Virenque:'I took Drugs, I had no Choice'.

Later in the day the trial took another turn when the former Festina trainer Antoine Vayer cast doubt over the current Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who celebrated his second victory in succession this year. Vayer testified under oath: "Armstrong rides at an average speed of 54kph. I find this scandalous. It's a nonsense." Then Frenchman Christophe Bassons, known as the only Festina rider to refuse doping, said Armstrong had forced him to leave the 1999 Tour. "Last year during a stage, Armstrong came to me and told me I was doing a lot of harm to cycling," Bassons said. "He [Armstrong] told me I had better go home." Bassons withdrew and did not take part in the event this year.

An entire book could be written on the 1998 Tour de France, the most organized and systematic doping conspiracy in cycling.  There were police raids on cycling team hotels, riders laid down their bicycles and refused to ride, teams packed up their equipment and went home. Team TVM riders tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

There Were No Tests.

Making things very complicated, if not impossible to draw a reasonable conclusion as to whether the U.S. Postal Service Team used drugs previous to the 1999 Tour de France, but there are suggestions.  According to Neal Rogers in Old Doping Accusations Lead to Altercation:

In 2001 [Prentice] Steffen told Irish reporter David Walsh that in 1996 U.S. Postal riders [Marty] Jemison and Tyler Hamilton had approached him during the Tour of Switzerland looking for information about illegal doping products. Steffen said he reported the incident to then-director Mark Gorski, and at the end of that year his contract with the team was not renewed.

Update: Emma O'Reilly stated in her deposition that she was unaware of any conclusive proof of doping going on with the 1996 U.S. Postal Service team although Tyler Hamilton and Marty Jemison were accused of complaining to team doctor Prentice Steffen about the lack of access to illegal substances that would increase performance and speed recovery.  However, if Emma O'Reilly can be believed, an open and systematic program of doping did exist on the 1997 U.S. Postal Service Professional Cycling Team and probably continued in 1998.

 This query was of an investigatory nature, a rider drawn at random from the 1998 Tour de France U.S. Postal Service team rider roster to see if there was a possible link to doping.  Eureka!  An accusation, but no proof.

So interesting developments occur in the most surprising places and more investigations may lead to further links to doping, but alas one has to question Tyler Hamilton when he told Jim Rome that he told USADA all he knew about doping. All?  Does all include doping on the U.S. Postal Service team prior to the 1999 Tour de France?  Would Tyler Hamilton answer honestly if asked the question: Did you and Marty Jemison ask Prentice Steffen where to procure performance enhancing drugs in 1996?  Would Tyler Hamilton answer the question honestly if asked: Did Frankie Andreu use performance enhancing drugs prior to the 1999 Tour de France?

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

If you were to use some simplified statistical comparison between the 1998 Tour de France and the 1999 Tour de France you would find little if any statistical significance in the performance of the riders with one exception: Tyler Hamilton who finished the 1998 Tour in fifty first place at 1 hour 39 minutes 53 seconds behind Marco Pantani, but who in 1999 finished thirteenth at 26 minutes 53 seconds behind Lance Armstrong.  For the other riders who participated in the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France doped or not there is little improvement in performance: Frankie Andreu who admitted to using EPO in the 1999 Tour de France, 1998 finish, fifty eighth: 1 hour 53 minutes 44 seconds; 1999 finish, sixty fifth: 1 hour 59 minutes 1 second.  George Hincapie showed no improvement either.  One might conclude from this astonishing data that Frankie Andreu and George Hincapie unexpectedly had superior performance riding clean than riding doped, contrary to the conclusion of common sense.  Of course, this is a bogus conclusion of anti doping crusader proportions, considering complicated variables such as the length of the Tour, the difference in mountain stages, and the most important variable of all, was Marco Pantani riding with or without dope?  But when, if ever, has the nay Sayers and accusers ever for one second considered all of the variables before making accusations?  Never?

Has the Issue of U.S. Postal Doping Previous to Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel  Been Resolved?

Emma O' Reilly says there was a program of performance enhancing substance use in place as far back as 1997.  Frankie Andreu may have deceived more than his wife with an improbable declaration of innocence, but he has no incentive to come clean and admit his complicity in doping previous to 1999; because he has more to gain from press declarations of him as a vindicated victim. Of course, there is no need to mention the fact that his wife Betsy thrives on her role as the wrongly accused insulted woman.  USADA has no incentive because there would be more cobwebs to clean out of closets, more non-analytical positives, further suspensions, and destroyed delusions.  USADA has a vested interest in confusing the public interest by maintaining the myth that Frankie Andreu, Tyler Hamilton, and George Hincapie were clean, so clean, prior to 1999.  Of what interest to anyone would it be to accept the fact that the bully was not forcing anyone to do what they had been doing all along, doping and cheating to gain an advantage and survive?  As Richard Virenque said, "I took drugs, I had no choice," not post Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel, but during the 1998 Tour de France.  If this logic applied to Richard Virenque why not this mindset for the entire peloton?  Where was the thermos bottle of EPO and the Rolex watches during the 1998 Tour de France?  Or were Rolex watches only purchased for EPO toting motorcyclists by teams who won the Tour de France?

Finis