At the Tour, a tale of courage

Tyler Hamilton, the US cyclist currently running fifth in the grueling Tour de France, is beginning to make a habit of doing things the hard way.

Last year, he came in second in the Tour of Italy, despite riding most of the race with a fractured shoulder. He gritted his teeth so hard to overcome the pain that he had to have 11 of them recapped.

Today he is up with the leaders in the Tour de France, this time with a fractured collarbone. "There may be a few more trips to the dentist in my future," Mr. Hamilton wrote in his race weblog last week. "It was pretty gritty out there."

Hamilton's story of determination has become almost as compelling a subplot in the Tour as the main theme: Can fellow American Lance Armstrong win his fifth consecutive Tour? While Armstrong's skills have earned the respect of the French hosts, Hamilton's courage has won their hearts.

"Of the 200 or so riders who started the race, there's only one that would have continued with Tyler's injury," says Stephen Pucci, who coached the Massachusetts-born cyclist when he began his career. "The other 199 would have packed up. Does he have a higher pain threshold? It's hard to say. Is he more determined? I'll bet you on that."

Hamilton was injured on the first day of the Tour, in a massive pile-up just before the finish line. X-rays revealed a V-shaped fracture to his right collarbone and his race appeared to be over almost before it had begun.

But at the press conference that evening when he was due to announce his withdrawal, he could not bring himself to utter the words after dedicating the last 11 months of his life to training for the Tour. Heartened by the arrival of his wife, Haven, and their golden retriever Tugboat, he decided to stay in the saddle.

"This guy is as tough as nails," says Steve Madden, the editor in chief of Bicycling magazine. "I'm absolutely amazed."

Hamilton came late to cycling, after an accident during student ski training forced him off the slopes.

"He had tremendous ability, but he didn't seem like an incredibly serious athlete," says Mr. Pucci, who manages the CCB-Volkswagen cycling club with which Hamilton rode as a youth. "He was very concentrated, though, and didn't get down, didn't suffer about what didn't happen."

"He is extremely determined but he has always held on to a level of fun, too," adds elder brother Geoff Hamilton. "He was big into skiing and cycling, but he was doing lots of teenage stuff other cyclists wouldn't. He didn't get all serious about cycling till he was in college."

Hamilton turned professional in 1995, and drew international attention as one of Lance Armstrong's lieutenants on the US Postal team, helping his leader win three Tours de France and reaching higher up the rankings himself each year.

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