VeloNews | Old doping accusations lead to altercation

It was over in an instant, but the altercation between a Tour of Utah race official and Garmin-Chipotle team doctor Prentice Steffen was years in the making.

During the stage 3 criterium in Salt Lake City last Friday, Tour of Utah team liaison Marty Jemison, a former U.S. Postal Service rider, punched Steffen after the team doctor made what Jemison considered to be an inflammatory remark about alleged doping dating back over a decade.

Jemison and Steffen worked together at U.S. Postal during the 1996 season; Jemison was a talented American rider on the upstart squad, and Steffen was an emergency room physician and admitted recovering heroin addict.

In 2001 Steffen told Irish reporter David Walsh that in 1996 U.S. Postal riders 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.

Whether or not Prentice Steffen’s story is true or not, it has always smacked of disgruntled former employee sour grapes to me …

We all know about Tyler’s history, but no one has ever produced a shred of evidence other than Steffen’s testimony that Marty Jemison doped, or inquired about doping. And since it’s impossible to prove a negative, Marty has no way of demonstrating that he rode clean (if that is indeed the case).

So why keep telling the story, Dr. Steffen? What’s more, as an admitted junkie, how do we know that you’re not still sticking a needle in your arm? Are you being subjected to all the same tests that the riders on Garmin-Chipotle are? Can you prove that you weren’t actively using heroin at any point over the past 12 years, especially back in 2001 when you were telling your story to David Walsh; another man who seems to have an axe to grind?

Obligatory “at-speed” blurry shot of T-Bird on the finishing climb of Stage 4 of the Tour of Utah.

Tyler Hamilton

Tyler Hamilton, a little closer.

I had to step back after this last shot, afraid of pulling a bonehead move like the guy who knocked down Giuspeppe Guerini on l’Alpe d’Huez several years ago. Funny thing, while the other riders in Tyler’s group followed the curve of the road right towards the finish line, Tyler just kept coming straight at me.

Maybe there was something about me that just screamed “Flahute”, and he was thinking “I’m gonna get that bastard that keeps knocking my team …”

I may have to change at least some of my feelings on the Rock Racing team … while I was wandering around the finish area after the race, the Rock Racing area was completely mobbed by people, and everyone seemed to be handling it with a lot of grace; posing for photos, signing autographs … the whole 9 yards.

Listening to Michael Ball talk to some of the people around, he came across as a lot more humble than he does in print.

And Tyler is still one of the nicest guys in cycling; and he’s certainly a human rider again … although those are some of the ugliest sunglasses I have ever seen. They’re even worse than the Oakleys that George Hincapie wore for the past few years.

T-Bird was in the middle of an interview … kicking back in a lawn chair and relaxing. Right now, he’s sitting in 4th place overall, about 1:07 behind Louder.

More of my photos of the Tour of Utah can be found on Flickr.

This crossed my email inbox today:

CONTENDER BICYCLES TO HOST IN-STORE SIGNING WITH CYCLING STARS TYLER HAMILTON AND FREDDIE RODRIGUEZ OF ROCK RACING

Contender Bicycles will be hosting an in-store signing with Tyler Hamilton and Fred Rodriguez of Rock Racing on Saturday, August 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. This is a great opportunity to meet and receive autographs from two of the most famous names in cycling today. There will also be official Rock Racing apparel for sale.

Founded by Rock & Republic fashion mogul Michael Ball in 2007, Rock Racing has made a name for themselves both from incredible success on the bike and from their flamboyant flair. The team has rapidly become a fan favorite after signing some of the sport’s most established names including 2004 Olympic gold time trial medalist and Tour de France stage winner Tyler Hamilton and three-time USPRO road race champion and Giro d’Italia stage winner Freddie Rodriguez. Rock Racing has redefined the look of the pro cycling team uniform and in April 2008, the squad was voted the most popular team in professional cycling in an on-line poll by Bicycling Magazine.

WHEN:

Saturday, August 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

WHERE:

Contender Bicycles
875 East 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801.364.0344

Come meet the riders, check out the cars and experience the flair!

1. It’s an event at a bike shop, during the Tour of Utah. Why the fuck would I want to “check out the cars?”
2. Shouldn’t Tyler and Freddie be resting up to prepare for the next day’s time trial, instead of schmoozing a bunch of fanboys?
3. What does it do for Contender’s image to associate themselves with a team that seems to have a lax (or at least very forgiving) view on doping?
4. Flair? Do they have all 15 pieces?

… what’s with all the fascination about pro cyclists’ personal lives?

Recent search strings leading people to my blog:

• Tyler Hamilton divorce
• Tyler Hamilton IRS
• Lance Armstrong divorce
• Will Frischkorn divorce
• Greg Lemond divorce
• Richard Sachs gay
• Michael Balls Floyd Landis
• Floyd Landis gay
• Tyler Hamilton gay

These are all Google search strings that have shown up recently in my SiteMeter stats, and you’ve got to dig pretty far in to Google results to hit my site from some of these …

Tour de Georgia finishes tomorrow, and (Crack) Rock Racing hasn’t imploded yet. Definitely have to back off my prediction, although I’m not sure how happy the team is going to be with Oscar Sevilla’s 6th place finish …

But what’s the story with Tyler Hamilton being 41-minutes back? The twin not helping him pedal this week?

Kinda scary when a team’s top-ranked rider on a flat stage is a climber, who finishes 40 spaces ahead of the team’s sprinter.

RESULTS

14 - Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing
23 - Kayle Leogrande (USA) Rock Racing
50 - Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
51 - Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing
54 - Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Rock Racing
57 - Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Rock Racing
109 - Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing
112 - Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing

I’m looking for some good performances from Doug O. and YMC … preferably in breakaways.

Still want to know when Cesar Grajales is going to get a race start this year.

Rock Racing Reveals Rosters For Tour de Georgia, Sea Otter.

Culver City, Calif. — Rock Racing will field a line-up for the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T that includes a world time trial champion, an Olympic gold medalist, Tour de France yellow jersey, polka-dot jersey and white jersey wearers and a three-time U.S. national road race champion who is also a four-time Tour de Georgia stage winner.

Rock Racing’s roster for the seven-day, 600-mile (965 km) stage race includes: Santiago Botero (COL), Tyler Hamilton (USA), Victor Hugo Peña (COL), Freddie Rodriguez (USA), Oscar Sevilla (ESP), Michael Creed (USA), Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) and Kayle Leogrande (USA). Mariano Friedrick is the team director.

[...]

On the other side of the country, Rock Racing will field a full eight-rider squad for the Sea Otter Classic SRAM Circuit Race Saturday at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California. On the roster for the 71-mile (114 km) National Race Calendar event are: Rahsaan Bahati (USA), David Clinger (USA), Peter Dawson (AUS), Sergio Hernandez (USA), Kevin Klein (USA), Rudolph “Rudy” Napolitano (USA), Adam Switters (USA) and Jeremiah Wiscovitch (USA).

Hey Rock! When are you going to give Cesar Grajales (you know, the guy who beat Lance Armstrong to the top of Brasstown Bald in 2004) a race start?