Detailed and balanced account

If you want to know what went on behind the scenes during Armstrong's 7 TDF victories, this book does a good job bringing out the facts. It's well organized and give an outsider's view of the details as compiled from the written evidence and participant interviews. You also get to hear about all the people who either facilitated the fraud or fought against it. It's more of a journalists version, and not as "personal" as probably one of the best accounts I've read, Tyler Hamilton's "The Secret Race."

11 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Very well written, hard to put down!

Any additional comments?

I've read or listened to many books on this subject. As an cyclist I idolized Lance for years. If it weren't for him I would probably not have gotten as into the sport as I have and almost certainly wouldn't have started racing. The book is a nice compilation of his story of both winning and his downfall. I've thought for the past 8 years that he had been doping for his whole career, so his admission to that wasn't surprising. The surprising and disappointing part of his story is the collateral damage of so many people whose lives he threatened or ruined. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

New era

After the 2017 TDF Lance did a pod cast called "stages". It was really good, insightful, funny, entertaining - something you do not get from the commentaries of Alan Partridgeesque Phil Liggit.

The truth is, yes they were ALL doping. Lance was a bit of a bully so people want to take him down a peg or two, or more. Did he entertain? Are we reading this book with avid interest while falling asleep through the Cadel Evans story...

It's a good book, worth a read/listen

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Mind blowing inside look at the scandal of the century

The Lance Armstrong doping scandal was the most crushing sports scandal of the 21st century. It combined the audacity of a man, whose ego knows no bounds, an awe struck public, and a culture of celebrity worship that does not question inconsistencies but worships unabashedly. This book is matter of fact in its assertion of Armstrong, and though truthful about his outrageous narcissism, it never completely bashes him. If anything, this book reflects our culture.

This story isn’t just about Armstrong. But it is about the win at all costs, corrupt culture of sports in general. Not just athletes, but coaches, heads of corporations, and sponsors feed the corruption. The list goes on and on. Santino Fontana, a brilliant actor and stage performer, is a revelation as a narrator. Here’s to hoping he continues to use his talents as a narrator, on a variety of material.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Reads like a drama. Hard to put down

Wheelmen isn't just about Armstrong and cycling races, and it isn't just about doping. It gives instead a dramatic big picture of how the interests moving around Armstrong (team’s management, sponsors, politicians, cycling international authorities) made possible that the biggest frauds in the contemporary sport was carried forward for so many years. It also reminds us how gullible (and starving for absolute role models) we all are when we "buy into" a “perfect hero” that the media like to present us time to time. Finally, it is about the greed, the arrogance and total lack of moral boundaries of a man –Lance Armstrong- for whom only victory and fame mattered.
The narration is also very good : Santino Ferrara is at his best..
Can't recommend this highly enough even if you –like me- do not have particular interest about cycling.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great book and great narration

Any additional comments?

This was a book written by great reporters with knowledge for the sport— Reed Albergotti is a competitive amateur cyclist.The narration suited the book terrifically. It went at just the right pace, with suitable inflections and voices for quotes.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Detailed and Balanced

This was a very detailed and balanced look at the doping life of Lance Armstrong. It painted him as neither a villain or a hero, but more that of an intensely driven athlete who was willing to do anything to win, including lying and cheating. The book left me with the feeling that while the authors probablty didn't particularly like Lance, they also were willing to let the reader/listener make up their own mind about him. What more can you ask? Overall the writing was excellent as was the audio performance. Very, very well done.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Pronunciations not correct.

Would you be willing to try another one of Santino Fontana’s performances?

Narrator was ok except pronunciations were not how people normally pronounce them. EX: Hincapie is typically pronounced Hin - CA - pie. . . NOT . . . HIN - cu - pie. Very grating to the ear.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

A hard ride to the inevitable truth

As a long time mtb biker and avid cycling fan I wasn't sure I wanted to pull back the curtain to see the ugly truth. But what a crazy ride filled with covert doping, coverups, legal manouvering and personal drama.

Very well written

This book was very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone who has wanted to know the story behind Armstrong.