Photo: Graham Watson

My guess at the top cycling stories of 2008.

10. Tyler Hamilton wins National Championship. Love him or hate him, Tyler Hamilton scored an impressive win at the US National Championships in Greenville, SC on August 31. Hamilton had come back from his 2004 suspension last year with Tinkoff Credit Systems, but due to pressure from the UCI and many top races, along with turmoil within Tinkoff and his rustiness from the long layoff, 2007 was not an auspicious return. Hamilton was ready to retire for good when Michael Ball from Rock Racing offered him a contract to race domestically. There were more downs than ups for Hamilton this year, but his ability to bridge to a 2-man group late in the championship race then set the pace with Blake Caldwell along for the ride gave him the opportunity to show the incredible grit that has been his hallmark. A burst and bike throw just before the line carried him to a .02 second victory over Caldwell. Hamilton has never admitted any culpability in the two separate tests that fingered him as a homologous blood doper. Although most fans at this point are either ticked off or ambivalent about his transgressions, Hamilton still attracts a small but very loyal and very vocal fan base. It will be interesting to see how Hamilton is received when he tackles the 2009 domestic schedule in his stars and stripes jersey. Assuming, of course, that he has a team to ride with in 2009. The recession’s effect on cycling did not make the top 10 stories for the year, but Rock Racing’s parent company, Rock and Republic Jeans, is finding it more difficult to push $300 jeans and the cycling team has already made some strange personnel moves going into next year.

9. Christian Vandevelde develops into a Grand Tour threat. Vandevelde had been a valuable domestique for ten years, but no one, save possibly Jonathan Vaughters (team boss of Garmin-Chipotle), predicted that he had the talent to develop into one of America’s premiere stage racers. But that is exactly what he did, briefly wearing the Pink leader’s jersey in the Giro then hanging with the contenders throughout the Tour’s toughest stages, eventually finishing 5th after turning in an excellent 4th place finish in the final time trial. Because Vandevelde himself did not see his potential the way Vaughters did, it will be intriguing to see how he performs in 2009 when he prepares all year with the belief that he can contend in the biggest races on the pro calendar.

8. Taylor Phinney becomes an international contender at 17. Phinney brings great DNA to the party – father Davis was one of America’s top cyclists in the 80s and 90s and mother Connie Carpenter has one of the longest palmares in the female cycling universe, including an Olympic gold medal from 1984. Even so, young Phinney had not shown that much interest in the sport until 2005. He won immediately and often and by 2008 he had turned his DNA and formidable training habits into some incredible results on the track, including a great ride in the Olympics and three national track titles.

7. Garmin-Chipotle rises to upper echelon. Garmin-Chipotle started the year as Team Slipstream, funded mainly by Doug Ellis rather than a major title sponsor. A combination of connected management (Jonathan Vaughters, former Tour rider), commitment to clean racing, intriguing roster (Vandevelde, Danielson, Millar, Zabriskie) and solid early performances resulted not only in an invitation to the Grand Boucle but also a solid sponsorship contract with Garmin. Garmin-Chipotle has taken out a Pro Tour license for 2009, making it one of the 18 top teams in the sport.

6. Nicole Cooke wins Olympics AND Worlds. Winning the two biggest one-day races on the calendar would be an unbelievable result for anyone. But Cooke’s results were even more impressive given that she had only two teammates in the Olympics and the German team was by far the strongest at the World’s. Cooke covered the right breaks at the right time by virtue of her own superior strength and won both races convincingly.

 Stay tuned for stories 1-5 coming soon.