patentcad

I'm about 100 pages into this fascinating book. In it you learn everything from what Lance REALLY weighs (175 lbs in December, 163 lbs in July) to what Euro pro cyclists really earn (the lowest domestique good enough to ride in the TDF is probably making $60-$80K annually, superstars of the sport earn $500K-$1mil with a precious few like Jan and Lance in the multi milion $ per year class). I've followed Euro pro racing for 20 years and never heard half this stuff. I guess that's where a European - like Euro - has a huge advantage over an American, being closer to where the sport occurs.

The most interesting aspect of this book may be a fuller appreciation of the complexities and dangers of professsional road cycling - and how TOUGH the sport is. Right up there with NFL Football in my book - and in many respects much harder. At least NFL players don't live out of Winnebagos in European parking lots. Man, that's gotta suck.

Mo'Phat

I see you've never been to Denver.

/badumbum..go Chargers.

SilentShifter

I agree, its a great book with some personal insights into Lance's life and life at a cyclist. He even focuses on other cyclists and their personal issues and successes. I finished the book in a few days, it was a great read.

DrPete 

Should we all chip in and buy a copy for that SI reporter who wrote an article in 2004 saying that Lance wasn't a real athlete because he's on a bike? God, I wish I could remember that moron's name.

DrPete

steve_wmn

I read it last summer. The hints about Lance and doping are fascinating. It really makes you realize what a controlling personality Lance is, and how this is what got him to the top of the sport.

The chapter on Floyd Landis is great. I'd love to see Floyd win the TdF.

pedex

All of the books about LA shed quite a bit of light into what really goes on, his last book especially. I see alot of the same aspects in my job all the time.

SilentShifter

Yeah, its crazy just how much Lance knows about everyone else. I can't get over the way he monitors everyone and seems to know exactly what they are doing, yet they have trouble keeping track of him.

patentcad

My impression after 100 pages is that Jan Ulrich may be the most talented individual to come along in pro cycling since Merckx. And that pro cycling on the world class level today is so unforgiving of any lack of focus/discipline that you can't even get away with being 5lbs overweight in April. "Overweight" being a relative term here. Of course a pro cyclist who's 5lbs overweight is underweight by any reasonably normal standard.

I'm convinced that Jan never won another TDF because he lacked the focus/maturity/discipline to put him over the top of Lance - and that maybe he could have done so with a different approach. His 5 2nd place finishes at the Tour seem like an enormous testament to his sheer natural ability. And he may well be too nice of a guy to have the 'killer' instinct guys like Merckx, Armstrong and Hinault all seemed to thrive upon...

Mo'Phat

Excerpt..."Charles Barkley says cycling isn't a sport. He acknowledges that Lance Armstrong is an athlete, but, in the end, Barkley says, "He's just riding a bike." "

https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ion/index.html

SilentShifter

Coming from Charles Barkley? Probably not the most educated person in the world.

On another note, all of the Lance books provide great insight into the sport and all its little nuances. They seem to keep getting better.

DrPete 

There was actually another article from SI that was far less favorable than that, essentially taking the Charles Barkley view. It was ridiculous.

DrPete

patentcad

The reality is that you can get away with being a bit soft around the edges in many sports. Basketball even. Not pro cycling. Good luck Charles. Get a grip.

Mo'Phat

Okay...I believe it was either Skip Bayless, who wrote for ESPN.com an article titled "Lance Armstrong is not an Athlete"..but I can't find the article.

Or it was John Kelso, who I think just spouted off on some sports talk radio show or something.

Or it was Ron Borges who writes for MSNBC. Google is your friend.

patentcad

And after reading the opening chapters I'm convinced that pro cycling in Europe is arguably the toughest of pro sports. Unbelievable. A cross between hockey and motorcycle racing - for far less money, and living out of a Winnebago in parking lots throughout Europe. I love cycling, and I ride a lot of miles, but I come HOME at night. They don't pay me to do it - but frankly after reading that book I'm not sure they COULD pay me enough to do it. For $75K per year? Not a chance.

I don't care if they pay you $3 million or $5 million like Jan or Lance. You have to LOVE it. That sport is too insane for money to be the biggest motivator.

2Rodies

I really enjoyed the book. My favorite line was when he compared cyclist to computer geeks. It's so true we are just a bunch of bike geeks in funny clothes.

The other aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was the fact that he wrote it without his nose firmly planted in LA's backside. It's not entirely flattering of Lance and is as close to revealing the 'real' Lance as any book so far.

jbhowat

Yet any look at a the racing forum here will reveal a butt load of middle aged, overweight (by any standard) men making fun of Jan for being "fat" or even "Obese". Its scary as hell to me that these people don't have a grip on reliality to see that Jan is only "overweight" in the sense of MAYBE 5lb.

2Rodies

Which for a guy whose being paid over 1million dollars to race his bike is a f'n travesty. As a real fan of the sport and a guy who races it's both sad and frustrating to see such a fine athlete neglect his training. Yeah it's somewhat ironic for guys who couldn't hold Jan's wheel for 50m make those kind of comments but on the other hand we all see the potential and are sickened by how it's wasted.

Don Cook

"I'm convinced that Jan never won another TDF because he lacked the focus/maturity/discipline to put him over the top of Lance - and that maybe he could have done"

I am one of the believers that Lance Armstrong won for two reasons, he's very good and the team he rode for was the best. I also believe that Armstrong would have finished behind Jan, had they switched teams. I suppose that I am somewhat befuddled by the focus on single team members to the almost total exclusion of the TEAM that won the race.

steve_wmn

OK, but Lance is part owner of the team. Lance hired Johan Bruyneel to run things. Without Lance there wouldn't have been a USPS/Discovery team. So having Lance "switch teams" is purely an academic exercise. My prediction is that he'd have taken control of T-Mobile and won the TdF anyway.

2Rodies

Sorry but you've got your timeline somewhat screwed up. When Lance lost his contract with Cofidis, his manager shoped him around. The only team that would take a chance on him was the then budding USPS team then headed by Eddie B. Lance later purchased part of Tailwind sports which is the owner of the then USPS and now Disco.

Bobby Lex

There were at least a couple of stages in last year's TDF where Lance's team disappeared early, and it was all on his shoulders. And he rose to the occasion.

I'm not discounting the value of a good team. But, in the end, it's up to the individual. Discovery is essentially the same team this year as last year, but no one is picking any Discovery rider to win this year's TDF now that Lance is retired, even with the support of that great team.

Bob

hiracer

I agree, except I'm not sure Lance's first tour win can be attributed to a superior team. I think that win was a surprise to everybody.

botto 

The UK is just as informed, and just as ignorant, to pro cycling as the US is.

patentcad

Well, OK, take that up with Mr. Euro : ).

Jan would have won if he had Lance's team? I'm not sure I buy that - on top of which I'm sure Lance and Johan B. were collaborating on who the team would be comprised even prior to his first Tour victory. I'm sure Lance had a say in who they had on the team even in '99. After Lance's encouraging top 5 placing in the Vuelta in the Fall of 1998 - they knew they had something there. And they did.

And yes, 'overweight' for a competitive cyclist is 5-8lbs over his ideal (and underweight by most other standards) racing weight. That's where I am now on March 1 - kind of where I hoped to be all winter - not more. 10-15lbs is 'fat'. It's really preposterous by normal reckoning. Take it with a grain of salt cycling fans.

Jan has had a stellar career. But his potential was greater still. And that's what frustrates many observers about Mr. Ulrich. I'll be rooting for Jan this July, that's for sure. I really like that guy...

TitaniuMerlin

Ok - so they team bike protect Lance and help him to the front before a climb, but they dont actually pull him up the climb. They just ensure he isnt burned out by then. I dont think that changing teams with Jan would change this - hell, if Jan is on the scene too, it really just comes down to mentality and physical strength. Hands down, Lance is a better cyclist then Jan. Look at the ITT this past year - there is no team to help you out there and Lance passed Jan (and Basso the year before).