Finally, something to peel me away from the computer… the 2003 Tour de France has begun! And with only a prologue and two stages complete, the 100th anniversary of the race already has already had its share of drama: a terrible crash in the sprint-out at the close of the 1st stage.

The warrior award goes to Tyler Hamilton, who found himself in the center of the pileup as the peloton raced around a curve in the final kilometer of what was shaping up to be a great sprint to the finish. Amazingly, Hamilton remains in the tour, and rode today’s stage-2 with a broken collarbone (finishing 100 out of 196 riders).

I’ve been a big fan of Hamilton going back to his days with US Postal. He had a great season leading up to this year’s tour and promised to be in contention for a podium-finish. Even with a healthy body, finishing the tour is an accomplishment; I don’t know how Tyler can last much longer given the pain he must be in. Hats off to him for riding today; in dramatic fashion, he shows just how athletic and competitive these riders are!

Back to Outdoor Life Network — gotta catch the re-air of today’s stage!

(From Cycling News; article by Thomas Valentinsen)

Tyler Hamilton rode today’s stage with a fractured collarbone – but is still looking focused. Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.

In spite of being implicated in the serious crash that took place in the final 500 meters of yesterdays stage 1 of the centennial edition of the Tour de France, Team CSC captain Tyler Hamilton has chosen to remain part of the Tour peloton.

Team CSC press relations manager Brian Nygaard told Roadcycling.com that Hamilton, who fractured his right collarbone in the crash, has not been able to get much sleep last night due to serious pains. In spite of this, Tyler will do everything possible to remain in the race for as long as possible.

The American is receiving treatment with painkillers, but the collarbone is fractured in two places. Hamilton told the press that it is a so-called “V-shaped fracture”.

Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it, about it, and subscribe to the blog RSS feed.