Maybe it was the Olympic rings on the shoulders of his skinsuit. Perhaps it’s that the guy just thrives when he’s in pain. Whatever the reason, Phonak’s Tyler Hamilton had a near-perfect time trial Saturday, becoming the first American to win a stage in each of the world’s major tours.

Hamilton, fresh from taking the Olympic gold medal in the individual time trial in Athens, vaulted up the Vuelta’s general classification Saturday, winning the seventh stage of Vuelta a España, a flat 40.1km time trial around the massive Ford Motor factory in Almussafes.

The performance moved him from 10th in the Vuelta’s overall standings to third place, 32 seconds behind Floyd Landis, the man who took the tour’s first maillot de oro last Saturday, after his U.S. Postal team took the opening team time trial in León.

“Coming here, after the Olympics made this stage especially important for me,” Hamilton said. “Being Olympic champion really meant that anything less than a victory here would be a disappointment.”

Hamilton was playing hurt again

Photo: Graham Watson

But Hamilton’s road to victory hasn’t been an easy one this week. The 33-year-old American crashed Tuesday in stage 4’s windy ride to Zaragosa and has been wearing a wrist splint ever since.

Asked if the wrist had gotten any better, Hamilton said it still bothered him, adding, “I’ve ridden through pain before.” Something of an understatement, considering that his spectacular second-place overall finish at the 2002 Giro d’Italia was accomplished with a broken shoulder and his fourth place at the Tour de France was earned with a painful V-shaped crack in his collarbone.

And again, the injury didn’t hamper the American’s performance. Hamilton got off to a strong start Saturday afternoon, belting out a strong and steady rhythm on a course that presented few hazards and no climbs: a flat 40.1km time trial on wide open roads. It was a pure test of power against the clock.

Early in the day, Hamilton’s teammate Bert Grabsch set an early standard with a strong 48:32, a mark that stood until the final group of top GC riders left the starting ramp. One of those was last year’s top Vuelta story, Isidro Nozal, the man who fought a commendable battle to hold the leader’s jersey all the way until the final uphill time trial, losing to then-U.S. Postal rider Roberto Heras.

Nozal cruised through time checks at 13 and 30 kilometers, bettering Grabsch’s times and finishing with a strong 47:53. Nozal’s marks stood only until Hamilton came powering through. His time was then matched by Postal’s Victor Hugo Peña.

Remarkably, Landis, who has truly come to form this season and reconfirmed his time-trialing prowess last week, hit the first time check in 16:17, five seconds faster than Peña and Hamilton.

Landis faded back a bit after that, dropping to third at 30km and finishing in third for the stage. His teammate, race leader Manuel Beltran hit the first time check 25 seconds off of his teammate’s pace, only good enough for 11th place.

Landis's third was good as gold . . .

Photo: Graham Watson

Beltran looked uncomfortable at the start and struggled to find his rhythm, but once he did, he steadily moved up the rankings, fifth at 30km and fourth at the finish line, ten seconds behind Landis. The performance was good enough to keep Beltran in second place overall, 10 seconds behind Landis and 22 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

But Hamilton’s was the ride of the day, and he saw his time and smiled as he hit the line.

“It was my only real goal,” Hamilton said. “I wanted to win this time trial.”

He was less certain about his chances for the overall title. Echoing the mantra of stage winners and race leaders throughout the week, Hamilton said he was “taking the Vuelta a day at a time.”

“I spent August focusing only on one event, the Olympic time trial,” he said. “Preparations for that are much different than they are for a grand tour, so I‚m not sure if I am in a position to go for the overall – though tomorrow will sure be an indicator.”

Sunday’s 162km stage from Xátia to Alto de Aitana offers up a rip-saw-like profile, featuring seven rated climbs: Three Category 3, three Cat. 2 and the beyond-category 13km finishing climb.

But Sastre had a good ride Saturday, too – and he can climb as well

Photo: Graham Watson

It was an observation repeated by Landis, who was reluctant to rate his own chances for keeping the leader’s jersey all the way to Madrid.

“There are a lot of very good climbers here,” he noted. “Obviously Roberto is in very good shape. You can’t ignore (Francisco) Mancebo – a lot of these guys had strong time trials today.”

Landis’s point is well taken. Heras, Mancebo and CSC’s Carlos Sastre each turned in strong rides Saturday and the top 20 riders at the Vuelta – a group that includes a number of strong climbers – are all within two minutes of one another, a gap that could evaporate on some of the toughest climbs that appear next week.

Like the man said, take the Vuelta day-by-day.

Race note

Hamilton was pleased and relaxed at the end of the stage Saturday, but made a point in each of interviews to close off questions with a reminder that it was also the third anniversary of the attacks on New York and Washington.

“It’s something that changed the world as I know it,” Hamilton said. “I would like to dedicate this win to all the people affected by the tragedy of 9-11.”

Results are posted.

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