Images of a Champion: Lance Amstrong and the Tour de France
- Book Review,
by Lance Armstrong
Book Description
Lance Armstrong has become the most admired athlete in the world. His heroic survival from deadly cancer and his hard-fought triumphs in the bicycle race that is thought to be the most grueling endurance test in sports are a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. A treasured keepsake-filled with never-before-seen pictures and revealing insights by the people who know him best-this volume is a celebration in words and photographs of Lance Armstrong's indomitable will and champion's heart.
In these pages you will find:
· Intimate pictures of Lance Armstrong in competition and off the bike-taken with friends and family, coaches, and fellow cyclists-as well as stunning full-color views capturing the grandeur of the sport, by cycling's top photographer, Graham Watson
· A text by Sally Jenkins, who wrote Lance Armstrong's #1 bestseller, It's Not About the Bike
· A moving introduction by the man who in 2002 was selected as Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year," whose confrontation with death taught him-and all those he has inspired-how to face life's challenges with courage, perseverance, and hope.
From the Inside Flap
The sight of Lance Armstrong, hunched in streamlined perfection, has become the icon for excellence on the bicycle. His face, etched with effort, defines champion for millions of people worldwide. He's the most admired athlete in the world--a hero in a sport dominated for over a century by Europeans. Lance Armstrong earned his stripes the hard way. Five times now he's won the world's most grueling sporting contest, the Tour de France. One time, he's won the most crucial battle of all--a fight for his life against cancer.
Photographed by Graham Watson, <I>Images of a Champion</I> celebrates the life of Lance Armstrong through words, stunning photographs, and tributes from friends, family, and competitors. It is a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of what life is like at the pinnacle of achievement.
Graham Watson, cycling's premiere photographer, has followed Lance's career on and off the bike. Even before Lance became a world champion in 1993 at age 21, Graham recognized something was special about the young rising star. They saw a lot of each other over the years and formed a special bond. In <I>Images of a Champion</I>, Graham shows us what Lance is like when around those who know him best, who see not just the victories but what goes into the making of a champion.
About the Author
Lance Armstrong authored, with Sally Jenkins, the #1 bestseller It's Not About the Bike and his new book, Every Second Counts. Lance became a world-champion cyclist n 1993 at age 21, suffered through a near-death experience with cancer, and surprised the world with his 1999 comback, winning five consecutive Tour de France races. He currently resides in Austin, Texas, and Girona, Spain.
Graham Watson, renowned for his stunning views of competitive cycling, is the sport's premier photographer. He has produced several volumes of his gorgeous photographs, including Graham Watson: 20 Years of Cycling Photography, Kings of the Road, Visions of Cycling, The Tour de France and Its Heroes, The Road to Hell, and The Great Tours. He currently resides in Middlesex, England.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This is the year I made my debut into the European-based world of professional cycling. Although I wouldn't get a professional license for another 6 months, I was already wearing Motorola colors in January and becoming acquainted with my future teammates, Phil Anderson, Andy Hampsten, and Steve Bauer at the team's preseason training camp in northern California. The camp was fun. We mixed long, steady group rides with media training and even some wine tasting around the hills of Sonoma. I was really impressed with Anderson and Bauer--two men who had both worn the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France and who were amongst the top one-day classics riders of that era. It was these two and, of course, Sean Yates, who guided me toward my first professional races after the Barcelona Olympics that August.
I'd raced in Europe before as a member of amateur national U.S. squads and was really excited about the prospects of racing against the big boys now. Of course, I wanted to start my pro career as the newly crowned Olympic road champion and had, therefore, made that race in Barcelona the major target of my season. As it turned out, the race was disappointing because I'd gone there thinking I could win and would win. But even though I attacked and tried to start or join in the right moves, in the end I missed the three-man escape that decided the race. A few years later, Fabio Casartelli, the Olympic winner from Italy, would join the Motorola Team and leave an indelible mark on my life that I could never have imagined possible.
I was surrounded by good people with good advice at Motorola, but none of it helped very much when I came in last at the Clasica San Sebastian in Spain. Pro cyclists race differently than amateurs, so I became a victim of their sudden accelerations that started about 60 kilometers before the end of this 240-kilometer classic. Dropped well before the last climbs, I wanted to stop the race and go home, but Hennie Kuiper, Motorola's assistant directeur sportif, talked me out of it, telling me how important it was to finish this first big race. I reluctantly continued all the way into San Sebastian, embarrassed and demoralized to be crossing the line so very long after the winner, Raul Alcala.
But Kuiper's advice had been good for me, and I vowed to myself that things would be different. I won a stage of the Vuelta a Galicia a few days later and then went to Zurich for the next big World Cup race and came in second. The difference between last place in San Sebastian and second in Zurich was purely a state of mind. I'd gone into the Swiss race believing the course wasn't as hard as people said, that the entire opposition was no better than me, and that therefore I had a chance to win. As it turned out, a great Russian cyclist was more clever than me--Viatcheslav Ekimov. Still, second place gave me some satisfaction and I looked forward to the remainder of the season, safe in the knowledge that I'd soon learn how to handle myself in big races and that I'd made at least some small impression on my peers.
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