A Book Review where I trash Lance Armstrong...
The Secret Race, By Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton
One of the best audiobooks i've listened to. I almost cried at the end of the chapter where Tyler had his best finish in the Tour De France.
The world class athletes, whose entire lives lead up to a choice to dope and keep up with the peloton or do the right thing and risk their career and millions of dollars in earning potential. Those athletes were in an impossible situation.
Until this book, I always wondered if Lance Armstrong deserved to get taken down like he did, considering so many other riders were doping. You couldn't win the Tour De France without cheating and cheating had always been a part of the race. I'd always felt that Lance deserved a little more punishment than other dopers, but questioned whether he deserved to lose tens of millions of dollars along with his career and his charity organization. I'd listened to Novitzki (sp, a public lawyer who investigated lance) and Lance himself on podcasts, i'd heard both sides of the story...sorta.
Lance was a major asshole. He had to win no matter what the cost. That mentality didn't just creep into the relationships he had with his team members, it completely enveloped those relationships. If you were on his good side, it would take a case of Stockholm syndrome to appreciate that relationship. If you were on his bad side, you were a chode, he apparently used that word a lot. Case in point, his treatment of Tyler (the co-author of this book), when Tyler showed he could have been as strong a rider as Lance. Spoiler alert, Tyler and Lance weren't on the same team for very much longer.
Lance didn't win 7 tours in a row just because he was a strong rider, who worked hard, and doped. Lance won because he did everything he could to win, broke every rule he could, broke every person he could (so that they would fall in line)...It seemed like many other riders doped to stay alive in the sport, a few doped to win, and Lance's doping was one of the many under handed things he did to win.
This is where all my respect of his world class work ethic and determination was lost. He took that win at all costs mentality to his interactions with the press, USADA, UCI, and his lawsuits. To the point where witness's were harassed and probably had their electronic devices hacked. His treatment of other people, and his disregard for their well being and livelihoods, was all that I needed to feel that justice was served with the penalties he received. He did some seriously criminal and underhanded shit.
Winning for him seemed to be a compulsion. Where Tyler's best finish in the Tour was the highlight of his career, a second place finish in any of the Tour's Lance won would have been a complete and total failure. He would have felt like a failure, and I don't believe he valued any of his wins, he simply needed to win.
There were 100+ riders more deserving, who Lance beat in each of his 7 Tour victories, that is why I feel he deserved to get taken down like he did. However, there is a strong argument that anyone who would have won instead of Lance, wouldn't have deserved it as much as others in the field. That is the sad truth when it comes to cycling and most sports. When individuals who are compelled to win at all costs, have the opportunity for an edge over their competition, they will take that opportunity. Especially when millions of dollars are at stake. Lance made over $7.5 million in the year after he won his FIRST Tour De France...
One of the best audiobooks i've listened to. I almost cried at the end of the chapter where Tyler had his best finish in the Tour De France.
The world class athletes, whose entire lives lead up to a choice to dope and keep up with the peloton or do the right thing and risk their career and millions of dollars in earning potential. Those athletes were in an impossible situation.
Until this book, I always wondered if Lance Armstrong deserved to get taken down like he did, considering so many other riders were doping. You couldn't win the Tour De France without cheating and cheating had always been a part of the race. I'd always felt that Lance deserved a little more punishment than other dopers, but questioned whether he deserved to lose tens of millions of dollars along with his career and his charity organization. I'd listened to Novitzki (sp, a public lawyer who investigated lance) and Lance himself on podcasts, i'd heard both sides of the story...sorta.
Lance was a major asshole. He had to win no matter what the cost. That mentality didn't just creep into the relationships he had with his team members, it completely enveloped those relationships. If you were on his good side, it would take a case of Stockholm syndrome to appreciate that relationship. If you were on his bad side, you were a chode, he apparently used that word a lot. Case in point, his treatment of Tyler (the co-author of this book), when Tyler showed he could have been as strong a rider as Lance. Spoiler alert, Tyler and Lance weren't on the same team for very much longer.
Lance didn't win 7 tours in a row just because he was a strong rider, who worked hard, and doped. Lance won because he did everything he could to win, broke every rule he could, broke every person he could (so that they would fall in line)...It seemed like many other riders doped to stay alive in the sport, a few doped to win, and Lance's doping was one of the many under handed things he did to win.
This is where all my respect of his world class work ethic and determination was lost. He took that win at all costs mentality to his interactions with the press, USADA, UCI, and his lawsuits. To the point where witness's were harassed and probably had their electronic devices hacked. His treatment of other people, and his disregard for their well being and livelihoods, was all that I needed to feel that justice was served with the penalties he received. He did some seriously criminal and underhanded shit.
Winning for him seemed to be a compulsion. Where Tyler's best finish in the Tour was the highlight of his career, a second place finish in any of the Tour's Lance won would have been a complete and total failure. He would have felt like a failure, and I don't believe he valued any of his wins, he simply needed to win.
There were 100+ riders more deserving, who Lance beat in each of his 7 Tour victories, that is why I feel he deserved to get taken down like he did. However, there is a strong argument that anyone who would have won instead of Lance, wouldn't have deserved it as much as others in the field. That is the sad truth when it comes to cycling and most sports. When individuals who are compelled to win at all costs, have the opportunity for an edge over their competition, they will take that opportunity. Especially when millions of dollars are at stake. Lance made over $7.5 million in the year after he won his FIRST Tour De France...
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