The Loyal Lieutenant: Leading Out Lance and Pushing Through the Pain on the Rocky Road to Paris

by George Hincapie, Craig Hummer

Overview

Trading on the sterling reputation that enabled him to survive a widely publicized doping confession, American cyclist “Big George” Hincapie—a record seventeen-time Tour de France participant, Olympian, and key witness in the Lance Armstrong doping case—offers an insightful account of his esteemed career and a sports era defined by performance-enhancing drug use.

In this highly anticipated cycling memoir, Big George Hincapie provides the most comprehensive account of a dark period in professional cycling, in which doping scandals have decimated the careers of some of the top athletes in the field.

The Loyal Lieutenant reveals how Hincapie’s life has been intrinsically tied to the sport he loves, from his earliest days in Queens, where he was influenced by his Colombian father’s love of cycling and the Colombian “cycling warrior” archetype. Hincapie takes us through his amateur years to the Olympics, and chronicles his exhilarating ride as a professional, including finding his true calling as Lance Armstrong’s most prized “domestique”—leading his then best friend to seven straight Tour de France victories.

Hincapie speaks openly about his relationship with Armstrong, how he himself began doping, and why he quit long before the headline-making revelations. His personal evolution is the journey of a man dedicated to coming clean about his past and to restore honor to the sport he loves. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062330932
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/27/2014
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	820,534
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

George Hincapie is one of the most recognized riders in the world, with numerous world championships, national championships, and professional victories to his credit. Since retiring from professional cycling, George has taken an active role in family business interests, including Hincapie Sportswear.

Craig Hummer is an Emmy-nominated sports broadcaster who has been involved in the action/lifestyle sports world for more than twenty years, first as a professional athlete in the sport of Ocean Ironman racing, and now as a commentator having covered more than fifty sports.

Editorial Reviews

A well-written book encompassing all the things I like about sports and sports heroes—the trials and tribulations, the drama, and the choices . . . I think this book will make everyone who reads it, if they are honest, ask ‘What would I have done?’” — Ty Murray, "King of the Cowboys," nine-time world champion in rodeo

From the Publisher

A well-written book encompassing all the things I like about sports and sports heroes—the trials and tribulations, the drama, and the choices . . . I think this book will make everyone who reads it, if they are honest, ask ‘What would I have done?’

Ty Murray

2014-05-07
With action/lifestyle sports broadcaster Hummer, world-class cyclist Hincapie recounts his career spent in the shadow of disgraced champion Lance Armstrong.It's tough to determine whether the fairly recent resurgence of popular interest in competitive cycling is due to the racing itself or to the doping controversy that has surrounded it for the past decade. Whatever the case, the now-retired former cycling phenom Hincapie feels compelled to share his story with the world. Unlike prima donnas like Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton, the author's role in many Tour de France (and other) international cycling victories was mainly one of team-oriented strategy in making sure his team's star member shined as brightly as possible in every race. Of course, this more secondary role still won Hincapie plenty of accolades, but it also did not prevent him from eventually indulging in the same sort of illegal performance-enhancing drugs that Armstrong and most of the other stars of the sport were using. It's interesting to note that Hincapie's depiction of Armstrong rarely acknowledges Armstrong's nasty competitive side, owing most likely to the fact that Hincapie never seriously challenged Armstrong and so never caught the full wrath of the world's foremost cycling celebrity. The author is not exactly contrite when it comes to his role in the doping scandals, either: Like Armstrong and other PED users, Hincapie saw doping as an unfortunate but necessary evil. Much like Hamilton's The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France (2012), this book ultimately serves to tear away the gentlemanly facade of competitive cycling to reveal the sport's profoundly unromantic underbelly.A straight-edged, readable memoir that will do little to polish cycling's tarnished reputation.

Kirkus Reviews