Retired pro Tyler Hamilton has been told he’s not welcome at an Aspen restaurant after a reported run-in with Lance Armstrong there on Saturday evening.
Hamilton was in Aspen leading bike rides at an annual summit hosted by Outside. Hamilton mistakenly believed Armstrong to be out of town and went to the Cache Cache restaurant to eat. According to Outside Online, the Texan happened to be there and blocked Hamilton’s path when he exited the bathroom.
“He wanted to get into it,” Outside magazine editor Abe Streep reported Hamilton as telling him. “I was like, ‘Let’s step outside and talk away from the crowd, but he wouldn’t. He said, ‘No one cares.’"
Streep said that Armstrong began to berate him. Armstrong has denied this, saying that he simply asked him ‘hey, what’s up?’
Hamilton recently admitted doping for much of his career and in a lengthy interview on the CBS 60 Minutes programme, said that Armstrong and others on the US Postal Service team used banned substances. His statements echo allegations made last year by another past rider with the team, Floyd Landis, plus former USPS pros Frankie Andreu, Stephen Swart and others.
Armstrong and the squad are currently the subject of a federal investigation, which has expanded beyond the FDA to other government agencies. Investigators are working with European anti-doping bodies and police forces in uncovering details, and it is thought likely that indictments could follow this summer.
Armstrong has denied doping and his spokesman Mark Fabiani has attempted to discredit Hamilton and his motives. The rider is a likely witness if the case goes to trial.
Cache Cache owner Jodi Larner, a friend of Armstrong’s, reportedly told Hamilton that he could finish his meal but wasn’t welcome back at the restaurant. The rider said he was shaken by the incident.
Another former USPS rider, Jonathan Vaughters, gave Hamilton support today on Twitter. ‘Hang in there,” he stated, then added, ‘bullies have a special place in my little black heart.”
He has said that he will speak truthfully about his time with the team if he is requested to do so by investigators.