The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs

The Secret Race is a definitive look at the world of professional cycling and the doping issue surrounding this sport and its most iconic rider, Lance Armstrong by former Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton and New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle. Tyler Hamilton was once one of the world’s best-liked and top ranked cyclist a fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his uncanny endurance and epic tolerance for pain. For the first three of Armstrong’s record seven Tour de France victories, Hamilton was by Armstrong’s side, clearing his way. From the exhilaration of his early, naïve days in the peloton, Hamilton chronicles his ascent to the uppermost reaches of this unforgiving sport. In the mid 1990s, the advent of a powerful new blood boosting drug called EPO reshaped the world of cycling, and a relentless, win at any cost ethos took root. Its psychological toll would drive many of the sport’s top performers to substance abuse, depression, even suicide. For the first time ever, Hamilton recounts his own battle with clinical depression, speaks frankly about the agonizing choices that go along with the decision to compete at a world class level, and tells the story of his complicated relationship with Lance Armstrong.