THE SHORT ANSWER
Tyler Hamilton, olympic time-trial champion, tour de france stage winner, author of the secret race, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 4 times. Here's where Hamilton lands on periodisation. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS TYLER HAMILTON?
Tyler Hamilton was one of the most talented American riders of his generation — an Olympic time-trial champion and a Tour de France stage winner — before he became one of its most important witnesses. His confession and his book The Secret Race did more than any other rider account to document how the EPO-era doping system actually worked, and who built it. For amateurs his value now is double: a hard-won, honest perspective on the culture that produced the era, and a coach's eye on how training and power-based racing have evolved since.
HAMILTON ON PERIODISATION
Hamilton’s key positions on periodisation.
- The early US Postal years ran on an A-team and B-team structure; not every rider was inside the programme, and many did not initially know what it involved.
- The first doping intervention was framed by a team doctor as something for his health, explicitly 'not doping' — a framing designed to reduce the moral weight of the moment.
- Pinning the era on a handful of named riders misses the doctors, directors and officials who built and maintained the system and held the structural responsibility.
- Forgiving Lance Armstrong was a long process, less about absolving anyone and more about releasing years of accumulated resentment.
- The shift to power meters and data has changed how riders train and race since his era — a different, more measurable sport than the one he came up in.
IN HAMILTON’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Tyler Hamilton’s appearances on the podcast.
“as soon as I took that first red testosterone pill I bothered me I have committee meetings at night come committee meetings at night you know stare at the ceiling usually between like two and three in the morning and you know you think about the consequences you think about you know it's a huge secret you know a lot of us were doing it and it was like how's this secret not going to come out I was like Petri petrified of it”
“he said you know he said it wasn't doping it's for your health that's what I remember him saying and then I remember taking it and just you know just kind of wanted to not to rock the boat yeah you take it and then you know you think about the consequences later”
“he was super focused he he knew what he wanted uh he was driven like be beyond belief I you know I thought I trained really hard and until I started training with him was that what year was that I started training with him a lot in like the year 2000 yeah a lot a lot and uh that's when I realized you know I hadn't been training hard enough in the years before”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Tyler Hamilton covers periodisation and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Tyler Hamilton say about periodisation?
Tyler Hamilton, olympic time-trial champion, tour de france stage winner, author of the secret race, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 4 times. Here's where Hamilton lands on periodisation. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Hamilton's main point on periodisation?
The early US Postal years ran on an A-team and B-team structure; not every rider was inside the programme, and many did not initially know what it involved.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Tyler Hamilton on periodisation?
Hamilton discusses periodisation in these episodes: "Hamilton's Untold Account of Doping & Forgiving Lance", "Tyler Hamilton on Coaching & Power Meter Training | Roadman Cycling", "Tyler Hamilton on Pogacar's Power | Roadman Cycling Podcast".
EXPLORE THE TOPIC
Training Plans— The Complete Guide →OTHER EXPERTS ON PERIODISATION