Book Reviews: Racing Through the Dark, The Secret Race

The truth shall set them free.

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.

 

 

 

Gianni

Gianni has left the building.

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  • @Leroy

    @Leroy

    Wow... Looks like the really sad part of the fallout from this is now beginning... Rabobank is pulling it's sponsorship of all pro cycling, men's & women's.

    "Rabobank has come to this decision following publication of the report from the American doping authority USADA last week. This report speaks volumes. Bert Bruggink, member of the Managing Board: "It is with pain in our heart, but for the bank this is an inevitable decision. We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport. We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future."

    Whoops... broken link. Here it is http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rabobank-to-end-its-sponsorship-of-professional-cycling-teams

    Shame one of the best looking kits of the moment leaves the peloton

  • @Leroy

    To each his own though... carry on cheering your "victory" if that's what you see this to be.

    Sound a little like Dastardly Dan right now.

  • @Dan_R

    @graham d.m.

    Staying out of the above wang-slanging contest; here is a story an employee at my LBS told me today: he had a buddy who freaking loved (LOVED!) Lance. Guy bought the "limited edition Lance-just-won-the tour Madone" at like "10 grand each". This poor guy goes on to decorate his living room with these collectible madones investing (wasting, perhaps better now) 10"²s of thousands of dollars on the bikes/the living room display. Worst part though...he named his oldest son Lance....ouch.

    Ouch does not describe it! I was a fan after win 3. But sometime after then, maybe when LeMan started to be "crazy," I was starting to have my doubts. I still wanted to see an american reach 5, so I watched and cheered, but after that it was enough for me. When Landis screwed up his own program and got caught, the writing was on the wall. I am happy my first born was not a boy. I held one of those gold leaf madones in my hands. It was being built for NHL enforcer and all around nice guy, George Leroque. It was nice, but now, Trek is dead to me.

    I happily unloaded my madone a month ago. I know they cut ties with LA, but for me the association will still be there.

  • @Leroy

    @smithers

    I'll put up $100 right now that says Lance never does so much as a day of community service over this case. He stands to lose some cash in civil suits but he definitely won't be doing jail time over any of this. The burden of proof is considerably higher in a court of law than anything the USADA has to deal with and, in a court of law, high powered attorneys change the game in a big way... just ask OJ.

    @Oli

    First of all, I'm not defending Lance's actions as being RIGHT. I'm not saying I would want to raise my kids or see anyone else raise their kids instilling that type of behaviour in them. Let's clear that up straight off.. I DO NOT AGREE WITH LANCE'S ACTIONS.

    Second, I'm not saying that you're "hating" strictly on Lance and USPS Oli... But you seem to be laying a big part of the blame for the "shape pro cycling is in" at Lance's feet. That's the part of the opinion that I don't agree with and am debating. Yes he was a willing participant but, if you're going to be outraged... be outraged by cycling in that era, not by Lance being the driven manipulative douchebag that he is. Really, if pro cycling is in bad shape today because of these revelations, we have Tygart and the testimonial of confessed dopers to blame more than Lance... he'd have done anything to take these secrets to his grave and keep his (and by association cycling's) name out of the mud.

    That being said, I do not see his actions as at all surprising or as being the cause of any larger issue in cycling beyond his doping and his team's doping. It would honestly be more surprising for a man in power to willingly admit their errors and lose their power than it would be to learn that they did everything within their power to preserve their position. Whether it's a Rockefeller monopoly or Vanerbuilt collusion practices or Armstrong's Strongarm intimidation tactics... that's simply what men in power have always done. I'm not using that as a justification for Lance or freeing him from any culpibility for his actions... just pointing out that it's very much to be expected with so much on the line for a megalomaniacal competitor like Lance. Lance was just another piece of the larger problem of doping in cycling and not the source of the problem that so many are making him out to be. No more than we can blame Barry Bonds for "causing" steroid use in baseball can we blame Lance for causing doping. If there were half as many dopers in the peloton or if Lance was alone on a doped up island, then voices would've rung out in unison supporting Simeoni or any number of other riders. Where was Dirty George all the years that people were blasting Hamilton & Landis? The peloton chose to support Lance's actions through their silence which means they share the guilt. Had these guys spoke up five or ten years ago, it would've been a game changer... today, the only people really benefitting from it are the media outlets who just got months worth of sensationalistic garbage to report on that, at least in my opinion, will ultimately do more harm to cycling's image than good.

    So really, my point basically comes down to three things..

    1. If we're going to condemn doping, condemn ALL doping not just those who did it best or most or most effectively or efficiently. All the riders who cry about sleepless nights and broken dreams now were all too happy to go along to get along until, in the twilight of their careers, they were faced with "turning states" or taking a bullet themselves. And we're supposed to laud their "honesty"... It doesn't take courage to go turncoat when you've got little left to lose. I have considerably more respect for Landis and Hamilton than I did a year ago... I have the same level of respect for Armstrong (which is to say very little) today compared to a year ago... and I have considerably less respect than I did a year ago for all the riders who testified.

    2. If we accept that Lance was a highly sophisticated doper, which you pretty much have to in light of the evidence, then we have to accept that everything about the sophistication of his doping was geared around hiding that doping and any steps taken to that end shouldn't be a suprise... what's more surprising is that it was so well known but everyone continued to ALLOW Armstrong to intimidate and coerce others into silence. If these 11 guys would've stood up a decade ago, THAT would've been good for cycling. Today, it's just an easy out for them as they're wrapping up their careers. If Armstrong intimidates Simeoni and then Hincapie and Vande Velde (or even a few other riders from random teams) step up and back Simeoni, THAT would've been a game changer... but that's not how it happened.

    3. This has done nothing to "help" cycling in my mind. The sport had already moved on IMO. I do not believe for one second that there is a rider in the peloton who was doped last year that will not be doping this year because of these revelations... Nor do I believe that young riders like Vangarderen, Phinney, or Dombrowski are currently doping or would have resorted to doping in the absence of these revelations.

    That's really the clearest I can make it... I'm not playing at being contrarian, I'm not trying to get your "dander up", and I'm definitely not supporting Armstrong, I'm condemning the whole reality of that era equally and completely along with condemning the usefullness of this whole USADA investigation which seeks to "clean up cycling" by dragging its name through the mud while selectively chosing which riders to persecute... and while ignoring their testing responsibilities at the major American races TODAY, right now. Personally, I care far more about whether Horner and Levi were doped in dominating the AToC in 2011 than I do about Lance being doped in 2005 (or how he avoided getting caught) because its simply more applicable to cycling today. The USADA failed us in that regard, and they failed us because they made a choice to hunt down Lance instead of hunting down doping.

    His name was already mud. Primus "My name is mud" song here. Hunting down Lance is* hunting down doping -- dope.

  • @Chris

    @G'phant That's the problem. COTHO, and his dirty little chums are in the past but the fucktards running the UCI remain firmly in place and it doesn't look like there's going to be any immediate change. You'd have more chance of getting Macbeth from a monkey than a coherent anti doping strategy from McQuaid and Co.

    The whole sport needs a massive shake up both in terms of how it's run and how the money works. As long as you've got riders killing themselves for a pittance and teams getting the vast majority of their income from sponsorship there'll be doping. Spread the TV money around, bring some equality into the structure with some salary caps. It's not the whole answer but it's getting there.

    This, and more lasting team structures.  Right now, there are two separate money flows.  On one side, sponsors, teams, riders.  On the other side, race organizers and TV rights.  There's a lot more money on one side than the other.  The UCI is in the middle.  Getting new UCI management would help, but it wouldn't fix this fundamental disconnect.

  • @Oli

    @Leroy Wow, you've been debating this issue the whole time and you didn't even know about this? Man oh man, talk about fighting blind...

    Didn't know what? That Raboboank intended to pull their sponsorship at some point in the future? What are you talking about?

  • @unversio

    @Leroy

    His name was already mud. Primus "My name is mud" song here. Hunting down Lance is* hunting down doping "” dope.

    No shit his name was already "mud"... that's why this whole thing isn't hunting down doping near as much as it hunting down Lance. If you can't see the flaw in proclaiming you're out to stop doping but conducting ZERO doping controls at the races under your control, then you're too stupid for me to even bother debating with you "dope".....

     

  • @Oli Are you talking about me saying that I hand't realized that Lance had lied under oath?? That's far from "fighting blind" and doesn't change any of my arguments... I knew he LIED, I just hadn't realized that he'd already lied UNDER OATH.

    Though re-reading what it's stated he claimed under oath, that's actually a fiarly impossible to prove lie... He's claiming that, as of the moment of his testimony, whenever that occured, he didn't have an ongoing relationship. Under a legal standard, they would have to prove through money payments that they'd been incontact basically on the day of his testimony. Payments a month later don't prove that there was an intent to conduct and continue a relationship as of his testimony.

  • @ChrisO@the Engine@Deakus

    I am in blood
    Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,
    Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

    This must have been written with Pharmstrong in mind. To be fair, though, it's not far off the current train of thought echoing around the empty spaces at UCI HQ.

  • @Leroy

    @unversio

    @Leroy

    His name was already mud. Primus "My name is mud" song here. Hunting down Lance is* hunting down doping "” dope.

    No shit his name was already "mud"... that's why this whole thing isn't hunting down doping near as much as it hunting down Lance. If you can't see the flaw in proclaiming you're out to stop doping but conducting ZERO doping controls at the races under your control, then you're too stupid for me to even bother debating with you "dope".....

    Well. First I would like to commend you on your debating skills. Secondly, I do not have any races currently under my control. Thirdly, I will admit that I am conducting ZERO controls on doping. I'm the dope.

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