anybody else see the excerpt of this book in the recent espn magazine? I don’t know if it will cover any new ground, but it certainly casts a dark shadow over Lance in the excerpt.
http://www.amazon.com/Lance-Landis-Inside-American-Controversy/dp/034549962X
No way man, Lance dominated talented, doped up cyclists for 7 years with hard work and dedication!
olo
ha!
It might be an interesting read, none the less.
Hell yes, I love reading books like this. Game of Shadows and Juiced were great too!
I haven’t read anything by Walsh, but I think we, as a society, must ask questions of everyone. I’m not advocating being a cynical doubter by any means, but you must ask questions and see if the answers satisfy you.
I would recommend Daniel Coyle’s “Lance Armstrong’s War” to anyone lookin to get a pretty fair picture of cycling. It is as objective as anything I’ve read.
Bob
The graphic designer in me wonders: What’s up with that photo?
Yes and I think that was the first time I’ve ever read more then 4 pages of that horrible magazine… Very insightful and I might add disappointing to read…Interesting since Frankie Andreau admits taking it and helping Lance. Tommy D is buddies with Frankie so we all have 3 degrees seperation from Lance!! I wish I knew 1% of the stories that Frankie knows…
The cover they had in espn magazine was much better. It was a red chain in the form of a heart dripping blood (well…chain links).
Too right man. Anyway, Lance is an anagram of Clean. How much more proof do you want.
Man, that is too much science for me
.
Lance’s rebuttal… http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12449.0.html
summary:
“Predictably, on the eve of the Tour de France, I will be the subject of a repeated, baseless attack in yet another unobjective book,” Armstrong said in a statement released Wednesday.
"Trying to jump on the bandwagon of current publicity surrounding cycling, Walsh now issues a recycled version of two earlier French books that were likewise founded upon a demonstrably false string of sensational, untrue and fabricated allegations.
"This latest attack will be no different than the first two - a sensationalized attempt to cash in on my name and sully my reputation.
“Like most fair-minded people, I am sick and tired of those who try to profit off the tactics of smear and guilt by innuendo or association.”
Lance’s response sounds more like they were written by an East Coast lawyer than a Texas jock don’t they?
=)
I have not read the book, but this is a write-up from someone else on a bike forum
"Those of us with cycling on the brain who also frequent bookstores will notice a prominently-displayed new release. “From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France” is the latest offering from David Walsh, the British journalist who co-authored “L.A. Confidential.”
Those looking for dirt on Floyd will be disappointed, as he is only mentioned in the last chapter, and nothing is presented that you don’t already know. Most of the book rehashes the case against Lance made in the previous books (which I have not read). This includes testimony from former teammate Frankie Andreu and wife Betsy (who come across as the most poignantly human people in the whole story); Greg LeMond; masseuse Emma O’Reilly; and others. It also details at length the controversies surrounding Lance’s 1999 tour test results - both the 1999 test for corticoids and the 2004-5 back-sample tests for EPO.
By and by, while presenting a selected history of doping, the book also teaches a lot about the internal operations of pro teams. We meet soigneurs, mechanics, directeurs sportif, doctors (both team and private), financial backers, and, of course, lawyers. We also learn a great deal about the personal relationships between the American riders on the pro teams - both good and bad. Perhaps the most interesting reading was the transcript of an IM conversation between Jonathan Vaughters and Frankie Andreu after the '05 tour concerning some of their former teammates who had raced that year.
The writing is compelling - I didn’t put the book down for six hours. However, the tone is often smug and sometimes annoyingly melodramatic. The author injects a little too much woe into his tale of those cyclists who couldn’t keep up when EPO usage became widespread in 1994-5. Cristophe Bassons, the “Mr. Clean” FDJ rider who conspicuously protested against doping while riding the 1999 tour, is elevated to saint-like martyr status.
All in all, the book gets you thinking, which is the mark of a good read. In particular, it makes me wonder, if the allegations are true, whether we should really differentiate between Lance and Bonds, and why more people aren’t cheering for Bonds like they did for Lance.
So in my opinion the book’s worth your six hours. Whether it’s worth your $25 and a spot on your overcrowded bookshelf - I’m not convinced."
Has Bonds done anything with his celebrity status to raise MILLIONS and MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars for cancer research?
As one who thinks Lance doped (as I think ALL of the top guys did or do), I really don’t give a shit. The end (the fundraising) justifies the means (the cheating) in my book. I don’t care if he cheated for selfish, proud reasons. I look at the $ that his winning has allowed him to raise, to combat a horrible disease.
…if the allegations are true, whether we should really differentiate between Lance and Bonds, and why more people aren’t cheering for Bonds like they did for Lance…
if no else has linked it, here it is:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=2916991
wow.
read, and read between the lines.
no longer do you have to fool yourself that pros in the tour ride without cheating, and ride without suckin’ down a cornucopia of drugs …
Interesting…the excerpt from the magazine was different…it focused on Lance’s alleged admission in the hospital and the alleged phone call with Greg Lemond…amongst other things.
more interesting is the interview the author gave to espn…
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?columnist=desimone_bonnie&id=2917499
Oh no… more Lance apologists… sheesh…
Why not stay on track here, and comment on the post, - (the review), - or read the book? On the post here, the discussion doesn’t involve whether or not Lance doped, and/or whether or wheterh he was right or wrong for doing so.
I agree that it was a wonderful thing that Lance did for Cancer research, and he should always be applauded for that. But it doesn’t mean that he was a good person, or that he also might have committed some crime, or done something wrong or illegal. Like what’s going on with Barry Bonds; Lance, Landis, and past TDF winners are not the only people that should be isolated and blamed for widespread doping. Lance should neither take the blame for all of the doping in cycling, nor should he be deified because of his charity work or his TDF wins: which (more than likely), wouldn’t have happened if he was a bicycle racer instead of a TDF racer…
Wow, I hope none of you ever sit on a jury… ever. What a decadent and decrepit society we live in where insinuation and anecdotal evidence can replace logic and reason.
Everyone should put down their copies of Globe, National Inquirer, Entertainment Weekly, this book, and read “Assault on Reason” by Al Gore instead.
Juiced was awesome.
who cares? if everyone doped, including lance, lance is still the best and the outcome would be the same. 7X TdF winner.