# Wheelmen



## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

I'm just finishing up Wheelmen, and I think it does a pretty good job of connecting all of the dots while still staying readable. There was nothing jaw-dropping in there that I hadn't already heard about or read about already, but it does sum things up nicely.

Before you trot out the "level playing field" argument in any debate, you should at least read this book and Tyler Hamilton's latest to get another perspective on things.


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## JasonB176 (Aug 18, 2011)

I finished it a few days ago. I thought it was just okay. Like you said, most of it was repeated information but the stuff from the Oprah interview on was new to me and I found very interesting.

There was also some stuff from his early career/teenage years that I don't recall reading about before.

As much as I'm disgusted by Lance, there's a part of me that is curious about what he would have been able to accomplish in the triathlon world. Of course, he would have been doped to the gills while participating but I still would have found it fascinating to see what results he would have achieved. The book made it clear that he was extremely focused on his pursuit of elite ironman competitions.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

I tend to buy a lot of books on cycling, and the vast majority are garbage. This one was pretty good in that it provided the whole picture with the benefit of hindsight. Many of the others either relied on a small, personal piece of the picture or a selection of very small pieces strung together. If you read enough of them, you got the picture, but this was the first time I'd seen it in one place.

As much as I don't like triathlons, they didn't deserve Lance.

WADA is stepping up their game (4 year bans among other measures) and I hope that encourages riders to participate in the TRC process. There's still a lot of house cleaning to be done, or this will just be another Festina.


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## jlandry (Jan 12, 2007)

I'm loving this book. There's a lot of stuff we already know, but for the most part, it's very in depth and detailed.

It does seem like the authors are sympathetic to Landis and making him look like a victim with no choice but to dope. (I'm only half-way through the book.)


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## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

Just got my copy from the library (looong waiting list).

I agree that it doesn't have much 'new' in it. Though to be fair, the juiciest new bits got picked up and quoted in the press. 

One criticism I have is that it reports a lot of stuff as 'fact' when really its one person's take on things. Instead of saying "according to Greg LeMond blah, blah happened." Though for some key events it presents both sides of the story.

It does cover something that hasn't gotten much press. Namely, how a handful of wealthy people were able to get a lot of control of USA Cycling, the ear of key sponsors and so on. Armstrong didn't do this all on his own, the system around him was corrupted. 

Overall, it creates a certain narrative, without coming right out and saying it. It never calls Armstrong crazy or troubled or anything. It paints a very clear, troubling pattern of his behavior over a long period of time. Each incident might not seem so bad, but taken together, they paint a different picture. 

The book is written at a very easy reading level, which annoys me, but it does make it an easy read.


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

Sorry to start up an old thread but I just read this book after a few friends also just read it.

I learned that the Lance was a much worse “person” than I ever imagined. He discarded women at will but also discarded long time friends as readily.

I also got more of a feel as to how everyone (Trek, Nike, et al) were benefitting from Lances legend and didn’t want to hear about PED’s. The media was the same way, which leads me to believe they can’t be trusted too much.

Then there was the very long list of lawyers involved on both sides of every situation. Mega bucks spent here. If a sport (athlete) spends that much on lawyers I simply cannot imagine how much is being spent in Washington, DC these days!

Also found out who Thomas Weisel was and the huge part he played in the whole story.

Finally there was actually some discussion of Lance and wealthy backers buying the TDF. Wouldn’t that have been interesting!


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

MerlinAma said:


> Sorry to start up an old thread but I just read this book after a few friends also just read it.
> 
> I learned that the Lance was a much worse “person” than I ever imagined. He discarded women at will but also discarded long time friends as readily.
> 
> ...


It would be truly WWF wrestling. Riders would be encouraged to use PEDs, and all sort of speed records would be shattered by a good margin. But I think Sky has a lot of the traits of the old Postal team, maybe not the exact degree, but...


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