Tour de Lance: The Extraordinary Story of Lance Armstrong's Fight to Reclaim the Tour de France [Hardcover]

Bill Strickland (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 15, 2010

Lance Armstrong is a worldwide icon, indisputably one of the greatest cyclists who has ever lived. After battling cancer and becoming an inspiration to millions, Armstrong won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years before retiring from competition in 2005.

Four years later, at thirty-seven, Armstrong decided to come out of retirement and go for the win yet again. He was racing for no salary, in a season when his greatest rival--Tour de France, Tour of Italy, and Tour of Spain champion Alberto Contador--was on his own team. The twenty-five-year-old Spaniard had been handpicked by Armstrong's own mentor, Johan Bruyneel, to be his successor. Now he would be his fiercest competition. Armstrong was about to suffer like never before--and, for the first time in recent memory, appear to be human on a bicycle.

After seven Tour victories--and beating cancer--did Lance Armstrong really need to prove anything? Beyond the thrill of another possible victory, what drove him to race again? What was he seeking--and would he find it?

Cycling insider Bill Strickland had unprecedented access to Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, and the team. He takes readers behind the scenes during the 2009 racing season and along for the ride on the Tour de France with a dramatic mile-by-mile account. Offering a penetrating and candid glimpse into the man behind the myth, Tour de Lance goes beyond a single season or a single race to reveal the heart of the sport and the soul of the cyclist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Strickland, an editor at large for Bicycling magazine, follows Armstrong after he decides to come out of retirement and compete, once again, in the 2009 Tour de France, cycling's preeminent race and a competition that Armstrong has won seven times. The book weaves between stages of the Tour and other races that led up to it, including the Tour of California and Spain's Vuelta Castilla y Leon, in March 2009, during which Armstrong broke his collarbone. Strickland, who admits that he saw in Armstrong an "innate greatness" early on, is occasionally fawning and overdramatic, but he had a great deal of access to Armstrong and his team, riding alongside and conducting compelling interviews with spectators and fans. Somewhat less engaging for a general readership are technical explanations of arcane cycling rules and comprehensive coverage of '30s-era cyclists. But cycling fans and readers who already follow Armstrong will find much to enjoy here as they relive his comeback and get a look into the anatomy of his races.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Cycling writer Strickland is all over the story of Lance Armstrong's return in 2009, after a three-year absence, to the Tour de France. The story is forceful on its own: the champion's grueling comeback leading to the great race, Armstrong's redefined role as a domestique to teammate and 2009 winner Alberto Contador, and the response of thousands at every racing venue to the cyclist's Livestrong campaign against cancer. But Strickland, who had access to Armstrong's inner circle, enhances it with an eye for detail and an understanding of its importance in the context of cycling's own physical demands and singular history. He reminds readers, as if they need it, of Armstrong's supremacy and laser dedication in the sport. But Armstrong, says Strickland, is different this time around: “So many times over so many years I had witnessed Armstrong bend the Tour de France to his will. Now for the first time I wondered if the race was, as it did with everyone else, bending him.” An irresistible account of a story that needed telling. --Alan Moores

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown (June 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307589846
• ISBN-13: 978-0307589842
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm not the famous and nice philanthropist Bill Strickland who helps people lead better lives. I'm just a guy who writes about life, mostly about bikes and life, as it turns out. Besides the books you can find here, I've published stories in Bicycling, Mountain Bike, Men's Health, Men's Journal, Parenting, Parents, Backpacker, Rouleur, Embrocation Cycling Journal, The Indianapolis Star, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Book Review and other magazines and newspapers, and I've commented on cycling, memoirs and other topics for Good Morning America, The Early Show, CBS Sports, ESPN, NPR and other networks. I got to work with Phil Liggett a few times providing narration for race videos. I race road and cyclocross, just a little bit and not very well. I'm the editor-at-large of Bicycling, the biggest cycling mag in the world. And I am an amateur and barely competent goatherd.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful book by unbiased writer June 28, 2010

By Ezra

Format:Hardcover

Lance Armstrong is a polarizing figure, and authors of books about him capitalize on this by aiming to either take him down (see Walsh, David) or kiss his behind (see Wilcockson, John). This book is a rare exception (as is the excellent "Lance Armstrong's War" by Dan Coyle). Strickland is an amazing writer. If you love cycling, you'll find that 50, 80, 100 pages go by before you look up from this book. It doesn't matter that last season was well chronicled by other outlets. Strickland could write about a race you've seen 10 times, and you'd still come away with fresh insight and appreciation for what it takes to race a bicycle.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Evolution of Lance Armstrong August 26, 2010

By E-Cowboy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

One of the things that I love about professional cycling is the many layers that are at play over the course of a Grand Tour. Perhaps if you're a hardcore cycling fan - you know the summiting record for Alpe d'Huez or can name the Lanterne Rouge from the past three Tour de Frances - Strickland's book might fall short in terms of ultimate insider information. However, as a cycling enthusiast, I wasn't disappointed in the details and Tour insights, strategies, and tactics that Strickland wrote about in "Tour de Lance".

This book is an interesting look at the evolution of Lance Armstrong, how he started in professional cycling and changed (matured?) over the course of his career. It's an insightful revelation about how his celebrity status in recent years has impacted him and ultimately what drove him to hop back on the saddle.

There were a few times throughout the book when Strickland got away from Armstrong and instead focused on the people who have become cycling fans because of him. While it was interesting to read about the impact that Lance has had on the sport, in those sections, I felt like Strickland's writing was a little over-the-top and could've been more concise.

All in all though, "Tour de Lance" is an interesting book on the sport of cycling and the worldwide celebrity that Lance Armstrong has become.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read! July 3, 2010

By bookgirl

Format:Hardcover

I've read a lot of books on both Lance and the Tour. This book ranks up there with the best. I loved the first person perspective - I felt like I was right there with them. The Tour starts today and this book totally got me excited to watch. Go Lance!