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Phonak suspends Hamilton
American Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton has been suspended by the Phonak team and will be thrown out unless he is able to prove he is innocent of blood doping charges, the Swiss team said Wednesday.
"If Hamilton is not able to prove his innocence, then the contract will be cancelled effective immediately," Zurich-based Phonak said in a statement on its Internet site.
The statement, which was released before the results of a second doping test sample were known, also announced the Phonak team leader's suspension until the proceedings on the charge are completed.
The 33-year-old faces a two-year ban after testing positive for an allegedly illicit blood transfusion following his win on the Tour of Spain's eighth stage time trial on September.
He pulled out of the Tour six days later apparently due to stomach problems.
"For the moment, we have to concentrate on the facts. These seem to speak against Tyler," Phonak team boss Andy Rihs said. "But so long as we're not 100 percent certain that he's guilty of manipulation, we will believe him."
Hamilton had said on Tuesday he was totally innocent of the charge of blood doping.
"I am accused of taking someone else's blood, but anybody who knows me would accept that I would never do such a thing," he said.
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