Lance Armstrong
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'A must-read for all cycling fans.' (BBC Sport )
'Sport is about the assertion of the will and that makes Armstrong the greatest athlete practising his trade' (The Times )
'Captures the thrill of a race persistently immersed in controversy and rumour.' (Irish Times )
'Fascinating ... Wilcockson manages to penetrate the psychological depths of the race's stars.' (British Cycling )
'Sport is about the assertion of the will and that makes Armstrong the greatest athlete practising his trade' (The Times )
'Captures the thrill of a race persistently immersed in controversy and rumour.' (Irish Times )
'Fascinating ... Wilcockson manages to penetrate the psychological depths of the race's stars.' (British Cycling )
'A fascinating, well put-together portrait full of insights'
(New Review, The Independent )'This insightful and meticulously researched book is an essential read.'
(Books Quarterly )'Wilcockson is the doyen of cycling writers'
(The Oldie )Product Description
Few champions have astonished the world as much as Lance Armstrong. A cancer survivor who went on to win the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, he is an inspiration to millions. Now the full story can be told. With complete access to Armstrong, and to his inner circle, and drawing on interviews with family members and training partners, coaches and celebrities, team-mates and rivals, friends and foes, sportswriter John Wilcockson tells of those who helped Armstrong along the way - including his mother Linda, his ex-wife Kristin and one-time fiancée Sheryl Crow - and explores the traits of character that made Armstrong unique.
The story of Lance Armstrong is one of brutal, painful effort, of natural brilliance, of relentless ambition, of extraordinary glory. His achievement is all the more stunning for its unconventionality: a boy from small-town
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a very interesting book about Lance Armstrong's incredible cycling career and life. As Elizabeth Edwards points out, the level of success that he has achieved in an immensely physically demanding sport is phenomenal and to have achieved that success as a cancer survivor is even more remarkable. The writer clearly knows Armstrong well and appears to have had unrestricted access to his family and friends.
The first hundred pages deal with Lance's childhood and early triathalon/ cycling days. It gets more interesting once Lance turns professional, although I did feel that there was a bit too much focus on the details about the races he participated in and not enough on how he was developing as a cyclist and an individual. It's only in the final quarter of the book that we read about the seven victorious Tour de France campaigns. It also discusses his racing techniques (although We Might as Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-setting Eight Tour De France Victories is a better choice if this is what you are interested in).
Wilcockson spends a lot of time talking about the allegations of performance enhancing drugs that persistently dogged Armstrong's career. He makes a strong case for Lance never having taken them. He points out that from the earliest days Lance had brute strength and natural ability, which he later honed as he developed a better bike sense and riding skills. The loss of upper body muscle mass after his battle with cancer enabled him to rise to the next level. Wilcockson also points out that Lance's secrecy about his training techniques worked against him in terms of reducing others' suspicion.
The book is very much about Lance the cyclist. I wish the author had been as interested in getting to the heart of Lance the man as he was in all those drug allegations. The most interesting parts for me were the most personal: Lance's battle with cancer, his devastation when his teammate Casartelli was killed, his relationships with his wife and with Sheryl Crow.
The picture of Lance that emerges is a highly charismatic, very private, intensely driven and somewhat humorless man who was very much the hands-on CEO of his team. For many years his life revolved around the Tour de France: he rarely read a book or even lay down on a couch. His teammates respected him but were also somewhat afraid of him. While immensely talented, he also trained obsessively and made extremely smart decisions about the team of people that he surrounded himself with.
The book doesn't spend a lot of time on Lance's relationships. He is clearly still very close to his ex-wife Kristin. The reasons for their break-up are not really explained here although Wilcockson suggests some theories. Nor is it very clear why he and Sheryl Crow split up - there is reference to their relationship being volatile but it's not really explored. His relationship with Anna Hanson who is the mother of his baby son Max is only briefly mentioned at the very end of the book. It would have been interesting to know more about her.
The book opens with Armstrong's decision to return for the 2009 Tour de France. I thought it was odd that Alberto Contadour is never mentioned in the book and nor is Bruyneel's reaction to Lance's return. The ending does feels rushed. Nevertheless, a worthwhile read about an incredible champion.
The first hundred pages deal with Lance's childhood and early triathalon/ cycling days. It gets more interesting once Lance turns professional, although I did feel that there was a bit too much focus on the details about the races he participated in and not enough on how he was developing as a cyclist and an individual. It's only in the final quarter of the book that we read about the seven victorious Tour de France campaigns. It also discusses his racing techniques (although We Might as Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-setting Eight Tour De France Victories is a better choice if this is what you are interested in).
Wilcockson spends a lot of time talking about the allegations of performance enhancing drugs that persistently dogged Armstrong's career. He makes a strong case for Lance never having taken them. He points out that from the earliest days Lance had brute strength and natural ability, which he later honed as he developed a better bike sense and riding skills. The loss of upper body muscle mass after his battle with cancer enabled him to rise to the next level. Wilcockson also points out that Lance's secrecy about his training techniques worked against him in terms of reducing others' suspicion.
The book is very much about Lance the cyclist. I wish the author had been as interested in getting to the heart of Lance the man as he was in all those drug allegations. The most interesting parts for me were the most personal: Lance's battle with cancer, his devastation when his teammate Casartelli was killed, his relationships with his wife and with Sheryl Crow.
The picture of Lance that emerges is a highly charismatic, very private, intensely driven and somewhat humorless man who was very much the hands-on CEO of his team. For many years his life revolved around the Tour de France: he rarely read a book or even lay down on a couch. His teammates respected him but were also somewhat afraid of him. While immensely talented, he also trained obsessively and made extremely smart decisions about the team of people that he surrounded himself with.
The book doesn't spend a lot of time on Lance's relationships. He is clearly still very close to his ex-wife Kristin. The reasons for their break-up are not really explained here although Wilcockson suggests some theories. Nor is it very clear why he and Sheryl Crow split up - there is reference to their relationship being volatile but it's not really explored. His relationship with Anna Hanson who is the mother of his baby son Max is only briefly mentioned at the very end of the book. It would have been interesting to know more about her.
The book opens with Armstrong's decision to return for the 2009 Tour de France. I thought it was odd that Alberto Contadour is never mentioned in the book and nor is Bruyneel's reaction to Lance's return. The ending does feels rushed. Nevertheless, a worthwhile read about an incredible champion.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am looking forward to the day when someone writes a real biography about Lance Armstrong - this day has not come with John Wilcockson's book. I've read Lance's two autobiographies, Life on the Postal Bus, 23 Days in July, Chasing Lance, etc etc, and there's nothing in this book that I hadn't read already. I'm not looking for a Lance-bashing book - that's as unhelpful as a book written by a Lance fanatic. But I long for the day that a biographer gets the chance to write objectively about Armstrong and actually interview a lot of the key players in his life - former teammates, former rivals (why doesn't anyone ever talk with Jan Ullrich about his rivalry with Armstrong?), people who love him, people who've crossed him and have paid the price, those who work for LiveStrong, etc.
Lance Armstrong is a great champion and a great philanthropist - he's also a complex character and someone who is a lightening rod for extreme opinion. He deserves a biography that honestly investigates all of these sides of him - and so do cycling fans.
Lance Armstrong is a great champion and a great philanthropist - he's also a complex character and someone who is a lightening rod for extreme opinion. He deserves a biography that honestly investigates all of these sides of him - and so do cycling fans.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Wilcockson has produced a piece of entirely one-sided, fawning, reverential hagiography about Armstrong (or "Lance" as he persistently calls him, unlike for example Armstrong's arch-critic, and my own personal American hero since his TdF days, Greg "Lemond"). This is unfortunately what one would expect of this journalist who is a member of Armstrong's circle of favoured supporters and cheerleaders, who's virtually made a career of lauding this all-American sporting "hero". Like others in his field, he knows what side his bread is buttered on. Wilcockson is completely uncritical of Armstrong, despite his being, in some quarters, one of the most vilified pro cyclists there has ever been. He ignores the many negative episodes in Armstrong's career (which of course are carrying on today with the Jeff Novitzky investigation into Floyd Landis' doping allegations), much of which have been meticulously and vividly covered in articles and books (curiously difficult to obtain in the English-speaking world) by the investigative Sunday Times journalist, David Walsh. Wilcockson's writing style is also very grating. Like all of his previous books on cycling, and the contributions he sometimes makes to the online journal Velonews, it's written in a narrative style typical of American new journalism, full of reconstructed (fake?) dialogue recorded in all its folksy, cute detail. At times his writing reads like something out of Hello magazine, for example in his description of the love Armstong and Sheryl Crow felt for each other. As I say, pure hagiography. Avoid this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The World's Greatest Champion?
I've read the seven-time Tour de France winner's first autobiography, It's Not About The Bike. It is a plainly-written account, which shows the cyclist to be an occasionally brash... Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Bailey
From The Edge Of Cancer To The World's Greatest
Having read both of Lance Armstrong's autobiographies I was intrigued when I saw the new book on Lance by John Wilcockson. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2009 by A. Mckellar
A great read
Whilst this book touches on points already covered in Lance's own books ("Its not about the bike" and "Every second counts") it is a far better read as its written by somebody who... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by Mr. K. Whalen
Not just another book about Lance. It's THE book about Lance!
Having been a keen fan of Lance Armstrong since Reading his truely inspiring book 'it's not about the bike' whilst receiving treatment myself for cancer, I have read most of the... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2009 by Lee Harcus
Excellent both for new followers and conoscenti
Having read most if not all books on and by Lance Armstrong, I was prepared to find little new in this book. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by A. N. Fletcher
Not just "Another Lance book"
As a Lance fan who was running out of things to read, I thought this would be a good bet. I was expecting a book similar to the others I have read, but this book manages to take a... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by Mr. J. A. Allen
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