Tinkoff Credit Systems
2007
After a two year hiatus from racing, Tyler joined a newly formed Continental Team sponsored by a Russian millionaire, Oleg Tinkoff. The Tinkoff Credit Systems Team was based near Rome, Italy and had set its sights on competing in the Giro d’Italia. Tyler brought tremendous publicity to the team when signing with them, and went out of his way to meet with Giro race officials to make the case for a Tinkoff invitation. Shortly after the start of the season, Tinkoff was invited to compete in the Giro. Tyler’s spring season was meant to build up toward the Giro in May where he hoped to lead a team of very young riders and share his years of expertise.
After a difficult spring, battling illness, injuries and abscessed teeth, Tyler was able to work hard enough to find his race form by early May, proving so by winning an unofficial team time trial held by the team as a last test before selecting the final squad for the race. But on the eve of the race Tyler and another teammate were told they would not compete in the Giro based on rumors and speculation they were linked to a scandal brewing in Spain since one year earlier dubbed “Operation Puerto”.
One month prior to the Giro, the owner of the team Oleg Tinkoff threatened Tyler that he would stop paying him if he did not start winning races. Tyler maintained his commitment to be ready to compete at the Giro in May and honored that promise. Still, Tinkoff insisted that Tyler should no longer be paid. He offered Tyler the opportunity to race without a salary through the remainder of the year with the option of winning bonuses if he won races. Tyler noted that his contract with the team made no such provisions and refused to accept the new terms. The team in turn, refused to race him again although he continued to train and offer to race per his contractual obligation.
Tyler filed a labor dispute against the team in Italian court and won. The team appealed and lost. Tyler is now due the balance of his contract plus damages should the courts agree his market value was lessoned by the team’s refusal to allow him to race and garner results. The legal proceedings are now in civil litigation and could take up to one year or more to resolve. With rider’s rights being trampled more and more every passing day, he felt it was important to stand up to the Tinkoff team management. For what it is worth, the UCI, USA Cycling and the CPA (Rider’s Union) all defended his right to be paid per his original contract and supported him in his fight against the team.
In September, Tyler competed at the US Nationals in South Carolina under his Tinkoff license. The team would not support him going to the race unless he agreed to the terms of their “new” offer. Tyler opted to do things his way and borrowed equipment, bought some riding clothes and invited his friends Curtis and Cindy Brown to come along for the adventure as support staff. Without much racing under his belt he was happy to post a 6th place finish in the Time Trial and finish among only a handful of riders who survived the Road Race. Erroneous journalism lead to published reports that Tyler had been fired from the Tinkoff squad – which was a sloppy attempt to explain his riding an alternate kit. The fact is, that he would not have been able to compete at Nationals if he did not have a valid license and an active team contract filed with the UCI. This was just another example of Tyler’s frustrating experience in dealing with the media.