A Significant Other: Riding the Centenary Tour de France with Lance Armstrong
by Matt Rendell
On This Page
Description
In 2003 Lance Armstrong won the Centenary Tour de France. It was his fifth victory and has cemented his position as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. This is the story of the 2003 Tour through the eyes of Lance's right-hand rider, the Colombian Victor Hugo Pena (who himself became the first Colombian to wear the yellow jersey during the race). Behind every great cyclist is a close-knit team of 'domestiques', world class cyclists who eschew individual glory to ensure their star rider show more wins. Pena was handpicked by Armstrong and is uniquely placed to provide an insight into what it takes to stay at the top of this most gruelling of sports. By deconstructing the myth of the Tour de France, and revealing the true role of the domestique for the first time, A Significant Other will be a classic sports book. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Domestiques are the team riders who can’t win for themselves, but ride for their leaders, preventing breakaways, chasing them down, keeping the pace high in the mountains, and so on. A Significant Other by Matt Rendell (based on Victor de la Pena’s diaries of the 2003 Tour) catches this better than any other. There’s a splendidly geeky section on the physics of the peloton, and a fine chapter in which de la Pena explains his team role in detail on one particular stage.
http://aroundtheedges.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/some-of-the-best-books-on-bike-ra...
http://aroundtheedges.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/some-of-the-best-books-on-bike-ra...
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
8 Works 299 Members
Matt Rendell survived Hodgkin's Disease and lecturing at British and Latvian universities before entering TV and print journalism
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters*
- Lance Armstrong
- Important events
- Tour de France
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Sports and Leisure, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 796.620922 — Arts & recreation Recreation, sports, and performing arts Sports Cycling Cycle racing
- LCC
- GV1046 .F83 — Geography, Anthropology and Recreation Recreation. Leisure Recreation. Leisure Sports Cycling. Bicycling. Motorcycling
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 45
- Popularity
- 659,401
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
