Just after Christmas someone in the shop mentioned The
Secret Race: (Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Dopping, Cover-ups
and Winning (by Tyler Hamilton and Dan Coyle) as an interesting read. Indeed it
is. Some might say a sickening view of the world of elite cycling, sickening or
not it is interesting.
It is not Tyler Hamilton’s sour grapes about the sport
blaming everyone except himself. Rather it appears to be an open, pretty honest
account of how he (and presumably many other riders) slid into doping in order
to remain competitive in that elite world.
It provides insight into how common EPO, testosterone and transfusions
are (hopefully were) and how necessary it was to anyone who dreamt of achieving
in that elite world. If this account is to be believed, doping was part of all
the top competitors and teams. Since Tyler Hamilton was such a part of the
“Lance times,” there are also some insights into that dynamic. That said, the
book portrays the incredible drive and dedication of these athletes.
Reading The
Secret Race, brought to mind another story of an earlier era from the inside of
cycling. A Dog in a Hat (by Joe Parkin) is the story of an American rider in
Europe in the late 80’s and early 90’s. A dog in a hat is a Belgian phrase
meaning roughly that things are out of place, that is an American in elite
cycling. It is an open, often funny portrayal of a world that seems insane by
outside standards.
Both of these
books are great reads for anyone with even a passive interest in elite cycling.
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