Tour of California: Hincapie relegated to shadows amidst 2009 tour's drama

By Elliott Almond - San Jose Mercury News
Posted: 02/07/2009

Cycling's most loyal teammate understands why he won't generate much pre-race buzz at this year's Amgen Tour of California.

"I just haven't gone away, I haven't had any scandals and nobody hates me," George Hincapie says.

That's not the case for three of his friends who will bring more than enough drama to the nine-stage tour that starts Feb. 14 in Sacramento. With cycling icon Lance Armstrong joining Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton in a return to the scene, there's hardly room to focus on anyone else. The cancer-surviving Armstrong is the sport's biggest draw. Landis and Hamilton are returning after serving drug suspensions in highly publicized cases.

And the unassuming domestique who helped Armstrong win a record seven consecutive titles at the Tour de France?

Hincapie, 35, will probably blend into the background while the big names cast long and sometimes dark shadows. It has been that way most of his 16-year career, even as he "created history together" with Armstrong.

"George maybe gets overlooked in the press but he is definitely respected in the peloton for the work that he does," said Bobby Julich, a former pro rider who has known Hincapie since they were 12. "He doesn't have to be that guy who stands out. But he sacrifices for other guys."
Hincapie also has buffered himself from drug suspicions that have dogged some of cycling's marquee athletes by never publicly testing positive and parsing his words when scandals exploded among friends and former teammates.

"I am very loyal," said Hincapie, who will pedal in the Breakaway From Cancer charity ride Sunday in San Francisco. "That is part of the reason many teams want me."

Hincapie, who rides for Team Columbia High Road, is one of Armstrong's closest friends and he has firmly defended the champion against drug suspicions that have never been proven. He also is close with Landis and Hamilton, and like many who followed their cases still isn't sure what to make of it.

"I don't know if they got caught or not," said Hincapie, a New Yorker who has settled in Greenville, S.C. "Somebody was right and somebody was wrong. I don't know who to believe. They definitely went through a hard period. They had two years taken away from their lives. I'm happy they are back."

But in the end, their presence makes the 750-mile tour that stops in San Jose on Feb. 17 that much more challenging.

"Nobody can deny they are extremely talented cyclists," said Hincapie, who finished fourth in the initial tour in 2006. "I've heard Floyd is motivated."

So is Hincapie, who has been part of teams that won eight consecutive titles at the Tour de France, finished second at the famous one-day classic Paris-Roubaix and is a five-time Olympian.

With probably only two more years of racing ahead, Hincapie wants to win a second stage at the Tour de France, win the Tour of Flanders and finally finish first at Paris-Roubaix.

But a repeat of 2005 wouldn't be bad. The 6-foot-3, 165-pound cyclist scored the highest finish of any American at Paris-Roubaix second and also won a Tour de France mountain stage.

In the Pyrenees, Hincapie was part of a breakaway that gained 18 minutes on the main group of Tour riders.

"It was a chance of a lifetime," Hincapie recalled. "I just didn't want to screw it up. I tried to stay calm. If you get excited too early you could definitely blow up."

Hincapie won by seven seconds, the consummate teammate crossing the line first.