After the first stage of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, the former Olympic gold medalist was encouraged.

Hamilton was 56th, finishing in the middle of a huge peloton about 2 minutes behind the stage winner, Daniele Contrini of Italy.

Hamilton is attempting to reclaim his place among the elite in cycling after his suspension in September 2004 for blood doping, the transfusion of extra blood that can increase endurance. He has been racing in Europe since January, but Monday was his first sanctioned race in his home country since the 2001 San Francisco Grand Prix.

Hamilton has continued to profess his innocence, but he seemed relieved to again have the chance to talk about racing.

Hamilton said his comeback was slowed by a bout with flu symptoms that developed into bronchitis in March, but the 2004 Olympic time trial champion says he hopes to use this long race to build momentum for the Tour of Italy.

Hamilton acknowledged he does not yet know if, at 36, he can return to his top form.

''I've never taken two and a half years off from racing and come back,'' he said. ''Your guess is as good as mine. I feel I'm heading in the right direction.''

The troubles faced by Hamilton, 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and others have hurt the sport.

Hamilton said before the race he was prepared for a possible icy reception from some of his peers, but he said Monday he had no problems.

''It was really special there at the start line this morning,'' Hamilton said. ''It was nice that there were a lot of people encouraging me and welcoming me back to racing. That was nice.''

Hamilton is the captain of the Tinkoff Credit Systems team, a new Italian-Russian team. He brings valuable experience to the team as a former teammate of Lance Armstrong and a racer who has won stages in the Tour de France and in Italy. Contrini is Hamilton's teammate.