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.
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