The book we will review today is The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle.
It was published in 2012.
I came across this book when reviewing the notes on an episode of Dr. Peter Attia’s podcast - The Drive.
He mentioned the book The Secret Race.
This book is incredible. 5 out of 5. This book is a true story, and it is even suspenseful. I found myself reading this book late at night and early in the morning when I wake up.
I need to read more books like this. Not only do you learn about stuff, but it's also a page-turner.
This book is told and written by Tyler Hamilton. He was a world-class cyclist that won a gold medal at the Olympics—competed in all the big tours, including the Tour de France.
He was on the famous or the infamous, Postal team that Lance Armstrong was on.
So what’s this book about. It's about cycling and how pro cyclists dope on performance-enhancing drugs.
I knew that Lance later admitted to doping, but I didn’t realize until I read this book that everybody was doping. Just to complete the race, you had to dope. It reminds me of the steroid baseball era. Everybody was talking some PED to place baseball, even the non-all-stars.
Same with pro cycling. But what was crazy was the system they developed to compete in these races.
Important Parts of the Book
- Every cycling team would have a team doctor
- The team doctor was the doping dealer
- That was their main job
- They would get the PEDs
- In this case, it was
- EPO
- Testosterone
- Blood Transfusion
- They would plan with the cyclists on when and how they would dope
- Before I read this book, I was under the assumption that dopers were cheaters who didn’t want to do the hard work to complete.
- That wasn’t true. If anything, the cyclists that doped worked the hardest
- This book does show how the doping system worked and how the doctors and cyclists would workaround the system
- But this book also shows how much the cyclists would train
- They would train all-day
- They would watch what they ate so they could be very skinny with almost no body fat.
- Hamilton mentioned that low body weight was a key factor in performing at these races.
- They had to watch what they ate all the time.
- Other than training for cycling, the racers would do nothing else regarding physical activity. They didn’t want to waste their energy on anything other than bike riding.
- They would just lay on the couch or bed all day.
- If they walked, they would walk very slowly.
- It's a brutal life. Even though they are the most conditioned athlete in the world, they would like they are extremely lazy if you see them lying around or walking.
- When it came to doping, all the cyclists would know if it was part of the game. There were secrets, but at the same time, there were no secrets.
- The cycling team and cyclists would keep their methods a secret on what and how much they doped, but the other teams knew they were doping.
- These cyclists thought, especially Lance Armstrong, that if you weren’t cheating, you weren’t trying to win.
- Using PEDs was something the team and cyclists spent as much time thinking about as they would training.
- It was a must if you wanted to compete at these big races.
- Some other thoughts on the book - Lance Armstrong was a jerk. He was also the sport's king—the richest, most admired, and most hated. You didn’t want to get on his bad side. He had the money and fame, and connections to ruin other cyclists.
- He played the game better than everyone, from training to doping to politics. The book even hints that he had connections with the government, which helped him drop a federal investigation.
- But if you treat others badly, then karma does come for you.
Conclusion
I highly recommend this book. A must-read even if you aren’t a cycling fan like I was. Though I might become a cycling fan now that I know how much effort the racers put into it.
Also, I wish more non-fiction books are like this, where you learn something, and it's a page-turner.
To conclude this book review, I will quote what Tyler Hamiltion wished he told a young kid - The truth will set you free - it's cliche but true. Tyler felt like a new person that could enjoy life once he came clean. And I think that is the most important thing about this book.
