Wheelmen, Reed Albergotti
Wheelmen, Reed Albergotti
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Wheelmen
Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever

Author: Reed Albergotti, Vanessa O'Connell

Narrator: Santino Fontana

Unabridged: 12 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 10/15/2013


Synopsis

The first in-depth look at Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports

Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tours de France after staring down cancer, and in the process became an international symbol of resilience and courage. In a sport constantly dogged by blood-doping scandals, he seemed above the fray. Then, in January 2013, the legend imploded. He admitted doping during the Tours and, in an interview with Oprah, described his “mythic, perfect story” as “one big lie.” But his admission raised more questions than it answered—because he didn’t say who had helped him dope or how he skillfully avoided getting caught.

Wall Street Journal reporters Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O’Connell broke the news at every turn. In Wheelmen they reveal the broader story of how Armstrong and his supporters used money, power, and cutting-edge science to conquer the world’s most diffcult race. Wheelmen introduces U.S. Postal Service Team owner Thom Weisel, who in a brazen power play ousted USA Cycling’s top leadership and gained control of the sport in the United States, ensuring Armstrong’s dominance. Meanwhile, sponsors fought over contracts with Armstrong as the entire sport of cycling began to benefit from the “Lance effect.” What had been a quirky, working-class hobby became the pastime of the Masters of the Universe set.Wheelmen offers a riveting look at what happens when enigmatic genius breaks loose from the strictures of morality. It reveals the competitiveness and ingenuity that sparked blood-doping as an accepted practice, and shows how the Americans methodically constructed an international operation of spies and revolutionary technology to reach the top. At last exposing the truth about Armstrong and American cycling, Wheelmen paints a living portrait of what is, without question, the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports.

About The Author

Reed Albergotti is a white-collar crime reporter for The Wall Street Journal. He is also the son of a fanatic amateur cyclist who served as the director of cycling competition in the 1984 Olympics. An accomplished bike racer himself, Reed speaks the sport’s odd language.Vanessa O'Connell, an award-winning reporter at The Wall Street Journal for seventeen years, has covered tobacco, alcohol, guns, insider trading, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She has a knack for exposing the nature of corporate America and how it sometimes manipulates the score in making its money.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Loren on October 20, 2013

This is a superb accounting of Lance Armstrong and his relationship with performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his ENTIRE professional bike racing career by two journalists from the Wall Street Journal. It is well-researched and well-written. For me, it closes the book on Lance Armstrong. I......more

Goodreads review by Johnrdavidson on October 28, 2013

The story of Lance Armstrong cheating cycling, the media, his worldwide fans, and pretty much everyone in his path is now very old news. But the authors, while reporting for the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) were the first to break the story wide open. Other books about Lance cheating (via dop......more

Goodreads review by Trish on October 19, 2014

We probably should have known better. When something is too good to be true… We were duped, but I feel like we need to take some of the blame. We wanted to believe in this level of sports competence…every year…for seven years…by a man who would be considered old in any other sport…and a cancer survi......more

Goodreads review by Eric on May 29, 2014

This book is for you cyclists out there. This book is for all you spandexed, sweat covered weekend, after work cycling warriors who feel the need to experience the build up of lactic acid in your thighs and sting of sweat in your eyes. This book is for anyone who sat in awe and watched as Lance Arm......more

Goodreads review by Margaret on November 18, 2013

I feel like this is the conclusion to a quadrilogy, from David Walsh's LA Confidentiel, Daniel Coyle's Lance Armstrong's War and [Whatever the Tyler Hamilton book was calle] and now this. It brings back all the sprawling supporting cast we knew and mostly despised and gives us the ending we saw comi......more


Quotes

"Authoritative and overflows with forceful details….Albergotti and O'Connell write like insiders looking out."
Los Angeles Times

"A chilling tale, and many of the anecdotes Albergotti and O’Connell collected sound like they were actually crafted in a TV-drama writers’ room."
The Atlantic

"Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O’Connell uncovered plenty more shocking details about the full extent of Armstrong’s drug use as well as the many people and institutions that helped him."
The Daily Beast

"The most comprehensive book on the subject … a colorful and thorough retelling."
USA Today

"Captivating . . . a level-headed view of the culture and business of cycling."
The Economist

"The book is rich in details, facts, and figures."
Velo News

"Wheelmen is all the truth-and-reconciliation the sport needs."
The Philadelphia Review of Books
 
"The only thing ever missing was the truth. In Wheelmen, we get it."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"A detailed account of Armstrong's eventual descent into disgrace."
The Guardian (UK)
 
"The definitive book on Armstrong."
The Montreal Gazette