My wife and I started reading this book together during the Tour de France in July. As she took her turn driving our Suburban across the U.S.—my children in the back, immersed in DVDs—I would read to her. Each night, we would check out the 2005 Tour's highlights on the hotel television and on the internet, then return to Coyle's account of last year's Tour while on the road. When we returned to Wisconsin in early August, we had completed about two-thirds of the book, and it rested unopened in my nightstand until this week, when we decided to finish the task. I am happy we did.
Lance Armstrong has suddenly become current again, as rumors swirl regarding his possible return to competitive cycling. He is often compared to Michael Jordan because of they way both dominated their respective sports, and he can add another point of similarity by coming out of retirement. Of course, the purported impetus for these latest rumblings is Lance's frustration with recent doping allegations by the World Anti-Doping Agency reported in L'Equipe. The latest twist is that Union Cycliste Internationale is investigating and is not happy with the public release of test results.
No matter whether this latest tempest peters out or gathers force, doping will never be far from discussions about Lance Armstrong. Indeed, doping is the dominant subtext of Coyle's account. Coyle covers Lance's close association with the notorious Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari; Irish reporter David Walsh and his book, LA Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong; Lance's bizarre confrontation in Stage 18 of the 2004 Tour with Filippo Simeoni, who had admitted doping and testified against Ferrari; and Tyler Hamilton's two-year suspension from cycling after positive tests as the Olympics and the Tour of Spain. By almost all accounts, cycling is rife with doping, and although he does not draw any conclusions about Lance, Coyle offers an even-handed and straightforward account of the evidence, allegations, and refutations.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
Ooh! Rumors of Lance's return!? Not to the Tour, though, right?
I'd love to hear that Armstrong will ride RAAm, for example...
2 - James Blackstock
I thought it was the best Armstrong book I've read including his two. Coyle manages to do a good job making Armstrong and those around him more human and fragile like the rest of us. This book doesn't attempt to draw conclusions or convey some mystical moral. It is what it is which is exactly what makes it such a page-turner. Having worked at a sports management company in the past, I find the descriptions of the 'dudes' hilarious. It's winter on Planet Lance now...
Cheers!
3 - Dave Shields
Unless you have info that I haven't seen elsewhere, the allegations weren't from WADA. They seem to have had no involvement before the fact in running these tests. WADAs involvement is that their boss, Dick Pound, promptly stuck his foot in his mouth once the story went public. The UCI has given him an appropriate tongue lashing for his comments.
4 - DrPat
It gets awkward to phrase this, because the tests are WADA tests, the protocols for testing (that were not followed) are WADA's protocols, and, as you note, Their head failed to sufficiently distance the organization from the public allegations.
I'd say "allegations by the World Anti-Doping Agency reported in L'Equipe" is a fair shorthand for all that.
5 - Gordon Smith
Dave, I am happy to be corrected on that, though grateful to DrPat for the effort at reconstruction.
6 - Pat Cummings
This book review has been selected for Advance.net. You’ll be able to find this and other Blog Critics reviews at such places as Cleveland.com’s Book Reviews column.