Lance Armstrong's War
One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France
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3.6 • 87 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Lance Armstrong's War is the extraordinary story of greatness pushed to its limits; a vivid, behind-the-scenes portrait of perhaps the most accomplished athlete of our time as he vies for a historic sixth straight victory in the toughest sporting event on the planet. It is the true story of a superlative sports figure fighting on all fronts—made newly vulnerable by age, fate, fame, doping allegations, a painful divorce, and an unprecedented army of challengers—while mastering the exceedingly difficult trick of being Lance Armstrong, a combination of world-class athlete, celebrity, regular guy, and, for many Americans, secular saint.
With a new afterword by the author, featuring in-depth reporting on:
Armstrong's unprecedented seventh consecutive Tour de France victoryNew blood doping allegationsArmstrong's continuing personal and legal battles, and his retirement
A fascinating journey through the little-known landscape of professional bike racing, Lance Armstrong's War provides a hugely insightful look into the often inspiring, always surprising core of a remarkable athlete and the world that shapes him.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When an athlete is as celebrated as Lance Armstrong, journalists tend to approach either with staggering awe or malicious schadenfreude. Refreshingly, Coyle (Hardball) displays neither. The journalist moved to Armstrong's training base in Spain to cover the months leading up to the cyclist's sixth Tour de France victory in 2004, and the resulting comfort level of Coyle with his subject is palpable. Armstrong emerges from these pages as neither the cancer-surviving saint his American fans admire, nor the soulless, imperialist machine his European detractors hate. Instead, he comes across as a preternaturally gifted athlete barely removed from the death-defying hellion he was as a teenager, fanatically disciplined, gregarious and generous but with a legendarily icy temper. Coyle sweeps over the basics of Armstrong's Texas childhood and fight with cancer, concentrating on his obsessive training this is a sport where results are measured in ounces and microseconds. He's sometimes too loose with his writing, digressing as though he had all the time in the world, but he tightens up for the grand finale: the Tour. This work is honest, personal and passionate, with plenty to chew on for fans and novices alike.
Customer Reviews
The best
This book is insane. It is a thriller and I simply could not put it down!