kilometers by himself.

Then
Santos had a mechanical problem, so we lost him. Then Gutierrez flatted, which meant we had lost three critical guys pretty early on. We made the call to wait for Guti, even though we knew it would cost us 30-45 seconds or so. But we really didn't have a choice since we were down to six guys and had two thirds of the race to go.

Eventually
Santos would chase back to within striking distance of us so we slowed up again and waited for him. At this point, we were feeling like the additional 25-30 seconds we were giving up to do so was insurance for what could lay ahead. It turned out to be a wise choice because we lost Perez and Pereiro to two more flats.

It was chaos. We were down to five guys, the minimum amount needed at the finish, and we still had a lot of ground to cover. At that point, I thought we were riding for pride. I don't think there was a single guy on our team who didn't roll into the finish devastated. It was an awful feeling considering our ambitions for the day.

We all boarded the team bus suffering from equal parts of frustration and sadness. Everyone on the team was deflated. From the mechanics who wanted to know what went so wrong, to the support staff that watched the race play out on television to the riders themselves who felt like a big opportunity had just slipped through their fingers.

But then at the end of the day, we had to feel good about finishing second. On an afternoon when it seemed as though the fates were stacked against us, we managed to limit our losses. And to later realize that we actually got faster as the stage went on, and had made up as much time as we did with only five guys left, meant that we fought a good fight.

I'm really proud of this team. These guys are riding with a lot of heart. No one gave up in stage 4, and for me, that kind of commitment is just as important as winning. These guys care a lot about what we are trying to accomplish here at this year's Tour. Their efforts on the road and the emotion they showed after the stage proved it. I'm in good hands.

Thanks for reading.

Tyler Hamilton

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