Book Reviews: Racing Through the Dark, The Secret Race
I must admit to not having read most of the cycling memoirs in the Works. I may eventually but the local public library doesn’t carry any of them and never will so I’ll have to buy them or ask Frank to tote everything he has to Hawaii. I did get off my wallet and buy these two and it was money well spent. David Millar and Tyler Hamilton have produced two excellent cycling books, parallel stories in very general terms and times. The contrast of how two people in similar straits handle the truth and the divergent roads it puts them on is compelling.
Doping in professional cycling is still secretive enough that it is best told from someone all the way on the inside. Journalists will be lied to by cyclists. Federal grand juries do better at getting the truth but we usually don’t hear it. Cyclists who lived the lie and need to unburden themselves make a good conduit. I can’t begin to explain it as well as Tyler or David did; their inner world of professional cycling is nothing we hear much about. In the 1990s it was the wild west where the law was absent. Spanish “doctors”, syringes and mini-centrifuges ruled the day. It’s such a huge subject, too interwoven with passion and pressure, so much grey area. For a person like me who likes to talk about doping in black and white, I’ve learned how institutionalized and insidious it was (past tense, I hope). It’s not so simple. It’s tragic. To feed the young ambitious athlete into a system where there is no choice but to accept the drug system is criminal. When money is at stake and the UCI is complicit, as is team management, those are some criminals.
Racing Through the Dark-by David Millar. I’ll also admit to being a long time admirer of David Millar. He has always been well- spoken and not afraid to confront, two qualities I admire and personally lack, but they make a good writer. Millar is a military brat who found his cycling talent in the 10 mile British time trial club races. He ended up living his dream, riding on the Cofidis team, France’s well- funded but dysfunctional squad. He spent his first few years with Cofidis riding clean, yet watching how others “prepared”.
“In my youthful exuberance, I was telling anybody who would listen that I’d won in De Panne and broken the course record with a hematocrit of only 40 percent. I went to see Casagrande and his roommate, whom I refer to as L’Équipier (the teammate), so that I could show Casagrande the test results.
I stood there, a big grin on my face, expecting Casagrande to congratulate me and say something morale boosting. But he didn’t. After a pause, he handed the results back to me and then turned to speak to his roommate in Italian.
“Perché non é a cinquate?” Casagrande asked L’Équipier, puzzled, Why isn’t he at fifty?
No one talked about doping and no one talked about not doping. Eventually, after VDB self-destructed and Casagrande was busted, Millar became a team leader. And with that mantle came the responsibility to produce results, be a professional. And eventually he was implicated by a teammate, evidence was found, he was out of cycling, deeply in debt, and drinking his way to the bottom.
For some interesting video here is a recent Spanish documentary from the inner ring.
The Secret Race-by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle. Tyler Hamilton and I grew up in the same end of Massachusetts, he went to the same prep school @rob and I dropped out of, so I always felt slightly connected to him. So I was a fan boy and stood by his fantastic excuses for too long.
The whole wretched story of doping in cycling is right here. Tyler Hamilton cheated and lied for so long, it took until 2011 before he could tell his parents the truth. And despite his decade of lying, this book rings true. His reward was getting out from under the lie. I think he would have written the book for free just for the unburdening. He states many times the lightness of being after testimony and though he knows it’s very unlikely, hopes Lance can feel the same lightness that comes from telling the truth. This book is Tyler Hamilton’s story but it is closely linked to part of the Armstrong saga.
Like Millar, Hamilton was unaware of systemic drug use until he had joined the professional ranks. US Postal drugs were at first team- provided and paid for. Once you proved yourself as one of the best riders on the team, as someone who could help Lance win the Tour, you earned the right to use EPO. It is fascinating reading, it’s horrifying, it’s depressing. Most unsettling is Lance Armstrong’s behavior. There are many revelations regarding Armstrong’s psychotic need to win. I’ll share just this one.
Tyler was eased out of US Postal because he was too strong a rider and perceived as a threat to Armstrong. So Tyler left and signed with Phonak in 2004. There was a time trial up Mont Ventoux in the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré weeks before the Tour de France. Tyler beat Lance in the TT. Later during the Tour, Floyd Landis, who was still riding for US Postal rode along side Tyler.
“You need to know something”
I pulled in closer. Floyd’s Mennonite conscience was bothering him.
“Lance called the UCI on you,” he said. “He called Hien, after Ventoux. Said you guys and Mayo were on some new shit, told Hien to get on you. He knew they’d call call you in. He’s been talking shit nonstop. And I think it’s right that you know.”
This little story is amazing for many different reasons and the only good one is Floyd Landis telling it to Tyler. I’m guilty of saying some negative things about Floyd, mostly because he was such an idiot liar. But at a point, when he has nothing to gain and he has lost everything else and he starts telling the truth, he gains back my respect, just like Tyler Hamilton has.
I ended up reading these books one right after the other. As I said before, I recommend them both. David Millar is a better writer. He actually has more demons to battle than Hamilton so his story of redemption is inspiring. Tyler Hamilton’s story is more depraved (in a doping sense) but both books are important. A lot of people in cycling are now admitting to past deeds in very unspecific terms. These two authors are both shining lights into some dark corners and making the inevitability of drug use in cycling more human and understandable. Also, in reading these books back to back, it highlights the contrast in how these two people dealt with their fates.
Both had the bad luck to be nearly singled out as dopers when a large percent of the riders were dopers. Millar realized it was the doping that killed his passion for even riding a bike. He took no joy in his EPO-assisted victories, only a temporary satisfaction that the task at hand was completed. He decided to come clean and to become an advocate for clean racing and changing the corrupt system.
Hamilton could not admit to anyone but his wife (who already knew) that he had been a cheat. His lie was so crushing he couldn’t even see a way out. He then spent all his money and energy protecting the lie for years, for nothing, obviously. It was the threat of perjury in that finally broke open the dam. It’s a cruel lesson to learn; the truth will set you free, even if it takes forever.
@Marcus I agree… Not a fan of Pharmy but the whole thing is a mess I wish cycling didn’t have to be involved with, again.
@ChrisO
*Meh*. I don’t really see Rabobank as a Dutch team just like I don’t consider Garmin a US team; they are all international these days.
Don’t worry, I’ll still be rooting for all the Genetically Superior Dutch Riders (I know, that’s redundant).
@Leroy
Quoting Andrew Hood, The Weight of Lies, VELO —
“For Armstrong and just about every other racer during the EPO era, doping was simply part of the business of being a pro. You doped. you raced, and if you were good, you won. And if you were really good, you made a lot of money. And if you were Armstrong, you dated celebrities and made $25 million a year. And won seven Tours.
What sets Armstrong apart is that he was in a position of power, influence, and success that he could have used to singlehandedly change the sport. He wasn’t just a foot soldier or even a lieutenant. He was the five-start general directing the troops.
Armstrong could have hit the brakes. He might have dared to urge change within the peloton. He could have used his growing power and influence to steer cycling toward a cleaner reality.” (end quote)
Leroy he did not try to further the sport. He did the opposite. He consumed the sport for himself.
Rather predictably:
A Texas insurance company is demanding the return of $7.5m (£4.7m) in bonuses from cyclist Lance Armstrong.
SCA Promotions covered a performance bonus paid to the American after he won his sixth Tour de France in 2004
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20029617
@unversio No he simply went along with the established culture… The same can be said of all the other champions. Any one of them could’ve put the brakes on. What if when Landis comes out, Ullrich supports him? What if Ullrich comes clean after realizing he just can’t match Lance? What if Dirty George comes clean instead of riding Lances coattails? EVERYONE went along, sure Armstrong “coudl’ve” made a change but so could dozens of other riders that no one is condemning as the worst thing ever in the sport.
And Armstrong definitely did a considerable amount to further the sport… Cycling was a non-existent sport to the majority of American’s pre-Armstrong. Look at all the young clean riders coming out of BLS, a team Lance started based on the considerable clout of his tour wins… Saying he didn’t try to further the sport is absurd. Sure, he could’ve done more to end doping just like so many other riders could’ve but that’s another story. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of Lance’s rationale in not coming clean is that he thinks he’s saving the sport more dirty laundry aired in public. And as for “consumed” the sport… if cycling has been consumed, it’s been consumed by the rehashing of all this dirty news, not by Lance keeping quiet. Really, the only part of that quote that matters is the first paragraph…
@unversio
Oh… how cute, taking shit and making it personal.
For the record, I’ve never consumed anything Armstrong related… not even so much as a gay yellow bracelet. I just have a firm grasp on reality and haven’t been blinded by hatred for the guy like so many others. You can bury your head in the sand and blame Armstrong for everything or you can recognize that the sport was fucked from all four corners and NO ONE did anything about for a decade. That doesn’t make Lance any different than anyone else because he may have been able to do more but didn’t.
For me… Love for cycling > hate for Lance… Nothing more, nothing less.
@Leroy
You’re cute when you get upset. I was referring to Lance — he da’ COTHOC
@Buck Rogers
1999 – *
2000 – *
2001 – *
2002 – *
2003 – *
2004 – *
2005 – *
2006 – *
2007 – *
2008 – *
2009 – *
2010 – *
2011 – Cadel Evans *
2012 – Bradley Wiggins *
Fixed your post. Plenty of evidence against the additional names I redacted from your list, and Evans is now playing the “I only used Ferrari for fitness tests” which is the latest accepted unimaginitive line for people winding up on La Gazzeta’s list of riders who have worked with him.
And if we ever thought Wiggo was clean, even after seeing their devastating USPS-like domination of the Tour, Braillfords hard-line on doping and “amazement” at the depth of doping in the Armstrong era is nearly enough to damn them.
In the current climate, the burden of proof in the court of public opinion is on Sky to prove they are clean; acting like they didn’t know there is doping going on is not the way to do it. As Gerard Vroomen rightly put it, if we’ve heard the rumors, then they’ve surely heard them too.
@unversio Apolgogies… I thought you were basically saying I was a Pharmy consumer who bought up all the things “Lance” in his glory days… My bad.
@frank Well put!
I just read about Cadel & Ferrari… man, the list just keeps getting longer…
@frank What’s your beef with Sastre? Working with Riis?
@Oli Wasn’t Sastre an Operation Puerto guy?
@frank Armstrong era* needs to be defined in the Lexicon. Same as EPO era.
@Leroy Not as far as I’m aware. Until now I believe he’s generally been regarded as a clean Tour winner, but I’m open to correction on that, of course.
@Oli
Sightings at Fuentes’s clinic (along with F. Schleck) when Hamilton was first being implicated in Puerto, and repetition of the same when Fränkie was said to have worked with Fuentes a few years later. There were also various other claims – possibly through Landis, I can’t recall exactly – expressing shock at him having such a clean reputation while in reality he was in the thick of it. Not to mention, as you say, working with Riis and after reading Hamilton’s book, it seem fairly plain that you’d be involved if you’re a GT rider for Riis. Matter of course. And that damns Basso and both Schlecks as well. But they’d already been redacted by Buck so I didn’t do it a second time!
Shifting to even more speculation (lets face it, all of this is, but as a community we’re amazingly accurate speculators) but I think Sastre’s consistency in GT’s over the years speaks volumes – especially a rider who gets stronger as a GT unfolds. Evidence suggests that a normal athlete’s blood should be depleting over the course of subsequent efforts, like in a three-week stage race, getting worse at carrying oxygen to the muscles (their hematocrit drops). Riders whose blood levels stay consistent are the ones who are able to maintain strong performances towards the end of the race. Sastre was known for staying steady and improving as the race progressed (as is Andy Schleck).
Of course, if everyone is clean, then you’d see everyone’s performance decease and relatively speaking one or another rider might perform better than the rest at the end of the race while being clean. Knowing what was going on in the bunch during Sastre’s golden years as an ultra-consistent GT rider, I think its far-fetched to think he was the pigeon amongst the cats.
(Yes, I made that saying up. Just now. I think.)
@frank
@Leroy
Yes I am woefully biased, but the Cadel explanation rings true to me. The story of a manager like Rominger getting Evans tested so they could, i) make a decision as to whether Cuddles could make it on the road; and ii) then use those results in shopping him to teams (because of Ferrari’s, er, testing, reputation), sounds somewhat reasonable.
Based on all the other stories of Ferrari, he tests the potential of a rider, and then if they are good enough, later on might start making orange juice recommendations. A series of meetings with Ferrari is far more sinister than a one-off or a training camp.
But I say that on the basis of that episode alone – wouldn’t have a clue whether Cuddles doped. If he did, he should sack his doctor who could never seem to medicate him properly to protect him from bad days. If it comes out that he has been one of the guys shifting money to Ferrari (that will be an interesting investigation – but it is being run by Italians I think, so they should fuck it up) or even had multiple meetings with him, then he is guilty in my eyes.
Once again, I note my bias, but Cuddles just “seems” clean – no not like Tyler did because Tyler was so nice (Cuddles is not like the other children) – but the stories that he did all this testing where he registered things like the best VO2 max results just about ever (better than Pharmy) and yet has never dominated? The fact he was clearly ostracized at Telekom (because he wasn’t with the program?). The story that he said no to Riis and CSC (which seemed like madness at the time) to go to a Belgian classics team (I remember discussions at the time amongst mates saying how much of a fool he was for not going with Riis – “look what he did for Hamilton, Julich and others!”). The timing of his improvement in results – which yes may have had heaps to do with a change in outlook – but that change may have been along the lines of “now I can beat these guys” etc etc…
I note there is a fair bit of hope tied up in the paragraph above.
But who the fark would know – better off presuming all clean until proven (except for guys like Mick Rogers – you dont go on camp with Ferrari because he toasts a good marshmallow) otherwise, its time to start watching athletics again. Because they are all clean. And you get to watch Alyson Felix.
mistake above – meant to say a series of meetings or a training camp is far more sinister than a one-off…
@frank Thanks Frank, I stand corrected.
@Oli
Good, now can you get to important matters and spin a theory on what the fuck happened to my chain?
@Frank @Oli
Well, if you want to take it to extremes, based on the context of the EPO era, previous admissions, and all the revelations in various books and investigations and L’Equipe articles…. (@Oli, if you haven’t read Tyler Hamiltons book, do so! No doubt in my mind about Sastre from the CSC years)
1991 – *
1992 – *
Indurain – debateable. Lungs like a horse. RHR sub 30. But the way he rode and climbed was unreal.
Landis, Armstrong, Ullrich, Pantani, Riis, anyone Spanish: enough said (not a racist comment btw: Puerto/ Dr Fuentes)
Evans: hopeful
Wiggins: I remain hopeful.
@Frank: I don’t buy the argument that if you dominate the race, you have to be doping. Thats too simplistic not up to your normal standards of analysis! By definition the guy who wins tends to dominate, or his team does. Nor can you judge Sky on some sound bites from Brailsford. That’s just how he talks. What’s he supposed to say? Am I 100% confident in Wiggins? I’ll stick my neck out and say ‘yes’ though I’d admit that is unwise after all the revelations. I’m basing that on the fact that times up hills indicate watts/kg within believable parameters and have got slower. Also that none of his performances look superhuman in the way that Sastre did on Alpe d’Huez or Armstrong did in every race or Riis did. In fact wiggins looked knackered most of the time especially towards the end of the race and was never really able to match the pace of the pure climbers…but was consistent. Which is what normally wins the race.
@frank
Your chain was trying to dope. Lifetime ban!
Wanna trip yourself a little? Look up Tour de France on Wikipedia. Read.
@frank
Will always denote this mechanical mishap as the Bastard Double-Loop Omen. Neither Good nor Evil — just pointless.
@Marcus
Sure, chum. We can’t separate the morning from the mildew anymore than we can the fire from the flame.
@Frank Got it! Figured it out! The chain… twisted… then. Shit!
@frank I have seen that before, and I’m still none the wiser – it’s like an Escher house, a Möbius strip or a Gordian Knot and, thus, incomprehensible to mine eyes.
@unversio Now I feel like I’m falling into a wormhole.
@Oli
Especially as the only known way to fix it is to pull an Alexander the Great, eh?
@Oli photoshop? The middle and right hand twists look very similar….. I just can’t work out how that can happen in a linked chain….
@Giles definitely, there’s no offset in the middle loop.
I’ve no idea how it’s done but it’s got to be that the chain is partially un-shipped on the chain ring and that portion is left behind whilst the portion following stays on the ring carries on past it.
@frank
Chain just needs a damn good Rule V talking to……
Yup, at least the third loop is photoshopped. Someone is pulling your plonker, yanking your chain…..
Need to see the whole chain to see how to untangle it…
Frank, it looks like the chain actually twisted.
Nice piece here by Robert Millar,. Well worth a read. I’m sure he’s glad he retired when he did. Something tells me he would have refused the needle.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/the-bare-minimum
@Giles
Refer to the original image.
@frank Jeeesh, never was a Big Mig fan to begin with but this is really incredible. Seriously? The guy just keeps slipping notches in my book. Maybe it can be explained like Basil always explained Manuel, “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s from Barcelona.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/10/news/indurain-on-armstrong-i-believe-in-his-innocence_262338
@wiscot Brilliant piece of writing, probably one of the most coherent arguments against McQuaid and his chums. What is it about those Millar brothers?!
@Buck Rogers Seems that Sammy Sandwiches is similarly deluded.
The news just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. Big Mig – BE SERIOUS! You fucking cunt.
What I really can’t believe is that dudes kept at it into the mid and late aughts. One thing to dope it up in 1995, but I can’t believe doing it more recently. I get stressed out by little things; I’d have been a mess if I was doping and cheating like that.
And, if I remained clean and couldn’t hack it I’d have made sure everyone knew over and over and over why I couldn’t keep up with those dirty fuckers. I guess some tried that approach, with less-than-sparkling results.
Scrammy Sandchez I take back any sympathy I felt for you when you crashed in the Tour & knew you were out of the Olympics. Funny that these pricks still think everyone is in the dark. It’s clearly all about self-interest if you still are defending COTHO.
@Chris
Unbelievable: Is it just me or does his comment just scream that he is a doper? I am all for free speech, 100%, but he just sounds like a dumb fuck who is doping and looking at his future defense if he ever gets caught. Maybe it is just me.
I have a theory. Probably flawed, but here it is: Think back to the dark days of LA in the Tour and other races. How many guys stood on podiums and instead of being overjoyed at their success looked like hey were at a funeral? Dour, unsmiling, less that ecstatic. Maybe those smiles were masked by guilty consciences? Feel free to shoot this theory down, but I think it has some credibility.
@wiscot Either that or the mortal fear that the urine they just had to supply might actual be “glowing” like a nuclear fucking bomb.
@Buck Rogers
This makes me sad….I was a big fan of Big Mig and to give him the benefit of the doubt I wonder if he is tucked up in the back woods in Spain, eating his favourite Pates and Sausage living forever in winter off season mode and probably not surfing the net. I really doubt he has read the documentation and probably just got nailed by a reporter looking for glory…or in my heart of heart that is what I hope.
The alternative is….he has completely lost the plot….or….that big engine was running on nitrox, but I cannot believe he has any reason to even comment if he were guilty and asked….surely he is from an era which would not even impact on this? Why open your mouth?
@wiscot
Holy Shit….you brought up Robert! The stolen Vuelta still makes my blood boil, I could happily apply wasp repellent to all the journalists who savaged (sorry could not resist the reference) him just because he did not fit their mould. I have enormous respect for this guy and the choices he made, he is his own man, and a very private one at that. In search of Robert Millar should be in The Works in my view, and it is good to see hear his views once more. A little like Graeme Obree in that he lives his own life and really does not try to tell others how to live theirs. I remember a section early in the book where he went to ride for ACBB in France, learned french, knuckled under but despite the pressure to conform maintained that he was a vegetarian and this was better for cyclists (I am a full blooded dead animal eater myself) when all around him were saying he was a crackpot and steaks were the only things cyclists should eat!
If this guy doped, I will ride naked up the Tourmalet singing Yellow Submarine all the way!
@Deakus
He’s from the EPO era. Whether or not he doped, he rode in that period when the EPO ball was kicked onto the pitch. The same ball that Riis, Ullrich and Lance picked up and ran with…
… and he was never the sharpness knife in the drawer.
@Buck Rogers
He doesn’t seem to get that Armstrong waived his right to a trial. As for free speech — he’s free to say something stupid & you are free to tell him so.
@ken … and he was never the sharpness knife in the drawer.
True, but you don’t expect refinement from a Chevy Hemi engine…you may well be right, maybe it is just hard to see your heroes fall. He was the first cyclist I ever saw on telly during one of the Tours when he suddenly went from time trialist to climber (that’s got to raise questions in todays environment)…rode the peloton off his wheel on a climb without getting out of the saddle…holy fuck! The more I review this more damning it looks…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StJ8Qjl0qPI
@Nate
Also worth noting that in waiving his right to contest the evidence he has also waived his right to appeal…no way back from here…he has picked the lesser of two evils…get sued by your sponsors with everyone pointing the finger at you or do hard time for perjury…
@Deakus
Yes that’s very true. Remember watching that first time around. I also loved watching Big Mig, remember marvelling at how he rode uphill mostly in the saddle with that massive engine.