Tyler Hamilton (b. March 1, 1971 in Marblehead, Massachusetts) became a professional bicycle racer in 1995 riding for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Team in the 1998 Tour de France. Hamilton is widely credited with setting up Lance Armstrong in the mountain stages for Armstrong's first win in Tour de France. Hamilton also consistently performs well in the individual time trials, placing 5th and 3rd.
In 2001 Hamilton left USPS and signed with the CSC-Tiscali Team in 2001. He fractured his shoulder in a crash in the 2002 Giro D'Italia yet still managed to finish in second place. In 2003 Hanilton won both Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Romandie. In the 2003 Tour de France Hamilton cracked his collarbone in the first stage, won stage sixteen with a 142km solo breakaway and placed fourth overall. For his win in stage 16, Hamilton was awarded the Coeur de Lion (Heart of the Lion) prize, awarded to the most aggressive and daring racer of the stage.
In the fall of 2003, Hamilton founded The Tyler Hamilton Foundation to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and to help amateur cyclists rise through the ranks.
Hamilton's team was filmed throughout the 2003 Tour for a yet-to-be-released IMAX documentary on how the human brain works under stress.
In the 2004 Tour de France Hamilton will race for the Phonak Cycling Team.
