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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Kudos to David Walsh for his passion and determination over the years. This collection of news articles, all published in The Sunday Times, shows that Walsh could smell this fishy mess long before it could be proven. His newspaper should be commended for printing Walsh's articles and supporting his cause despite the legal defamation suits that resulted.
David Walsh is a true investigative reporter, the likes of which barely exists anymore. For more than 17 years, he pursued evidence of doping in professional cycling and he seemed to have his sights set firmly on finding fault with Lance Armstrong. All other publications and reporters gave up that angle and chose to write about Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France in a glorified manner, treating the 1998 Festina Affair as simply a bad year in an otherwise clean sport. Walsh never wavered from his view that cycling was corrupt and, as all other top riders of the Tour were proven dopers and hence fell from grace, Walsh maintained his belief that Lance was actively doping and was using his wealth and influence to control and cover up the trail of evidence.
More interesting than the doping allegations is the character study of Armstrong. Truly a sociopath, Lance discarded all of his so-called friends, confidants, team members and lovers when they were no longer useful in his climb to the top, and their silence was bought through countless legal settlements that forced secrecy.
David Walsh is a true investigative reporter, the likes of which barely exists anymore. For more than 17 years, he pursued evidence of doping in professional cycling and he seemed to have his sights set firmly on finding fault with Lance Armstrong. All other publications and reporters gave up that angle and chose to write about Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France in a glorified manner, treating the 1998 Festina Affair as simply a bad year in an otherwise clean sport. Walsh never wavered from his view that cycling was corrupt and, as all other top riders of the Tour were proven dopers and hence fell from grace, Walsh maintained his belief that Lance was actively doping and was using his wealth and influence to control and cover up the trail of evidence.
More interesting than the doping allegations is the character study of Armstrong. Truly a sociopath, Lance discarded all of his so-called friends, confidants, team members and lovers when they were no longer useful in his climb to the top, and their silence was bought through countless legal settlements that forced secrecy.
Last fall I read The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton and it was one of the best nonfiction books I read that year. As this story has evolved over the past few months, with Armstrong admitting to Oprah that he doped through each of his Tour de France wins, there’s been a lot of hindsight 20/20-type statements from cyclings fans and sports writers.
On the other hand, Walsh suspected Armstrong of doping from his very first Tour win in 1999 and was vocal about it then and throughout the next decade. This book is a collection of Walsh’s articles for The Sunday Times—from the first, disbelieving reaction to Armstrong’s 1999 win to the growing mountain of evidence against Armstrong that accumulated through each consecutive win. One of the few writers willing to question Armstrong’s wins, Walsh found himself not only a cycling press pariah, but he also wrote the articles that led Armstrong to sue The Sunday Times for libel. (Armstrong won. The newspaper is now seeking the return of the original settlement.)
This book provides fantastic background on Armstrong’s wins and walks through the Armstrong doping legacy in great detail. The quality of Walsh’s research is especially interesting, considering that Walsh was writing outlier observations at the time. Indeed, much of what Walsh mentions as possible evidence of doping has now been confirmed by Armstrong himself.
There are a few offhand articles included in the book that are mostly recaps or compilations of facts written in Walsh’s earlier work, so it can feel repetitive at times. Even still, the book moves quickly and doesn’t feel tedious. The best moments are the beginning of the book (the first few articles Walsh wrote on the subject) and Walsh’s vindication at the end of the book.
If you haven’t tired yet of reading about Lance Armstrong, this book is an interesting, provocative look back through the years. Best of all, it’s only $4.50 on Kindle. I may follow this up with Walsh’s personal book about his investigation, Seven Deadly Sins. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
On the other hand, Walsh suspected Armstrong of doping from his very first Tour win in 1999 and was vocal about it then and throughout the next decade. This book is a collection of Walsh’s articles for The Sunday Times—from the first, disbelieving reaction to Armstrong’s 1999 win to the growing mountain of evidence against Armstrong that accumulated through each consecutive win. One of the few writers willing to question Armstrong’s wins, Walsh found himself not only a cycling press pariah, but he also wrote the articles that led Armstrong to sue The Sunday Times for libel. (Armstrong won. The newspaper is now seeking the return of the original settlement.)
This book provides fantastic background on Armstrong’s wins and walks through the Armstrong doping legacy in great detail. The quality of Walsh’s research is especially interesting, considering that Walsh was writing outlier observations at the time. Indeed, much of what Walsh mentions as possible evidence of doping has now been confirmed by Armstrong himself.
There are a few offhand articles included in the book that are mostly recaps or compilations of facts written in Walsh’s earlier work, so it can feel repetitive at times. Even still, the book moves quickly and doesn’t feel tedious. The best moments are the beginning of the book (the first few articles Walsh wrote on the subject) and Walsh’s vindication at the end of the book.
If you haven’t tired yet of reading about Lance Armstrong, this book is an interesting, provocative look back through the years. Best of all, it’s only $4.50 on Kindle. I may follow this up with Walsh’s personal book about his investigation, Seven Deadly Sins. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Terrifically powerful journalism - David Walsh should be applauded for his commitment to truth and to spending more than a decade uncovering it while others took the easy path.