Book Review: Tour de Lance pierces psyche of famous cyclist

Title: Tour de Lance: The Extraordinary Story of Lance Armstrong's Fight to Reclaim the Tour de France

Author: Bill Strickland Publishers: Harmony Books

There are few athletes more polarising than Lance Armstrong. Fans believe he's capable of performing miracles on two wheels while detractors are certain he doped his way to seven consecutive victories in the world's toughest bike race.

This book isn't likely to sway either side. But for cycling fans, especially those whose pulses quicken when they hear the names of classic climbs like Mont Ventoux or L'Alpe d'Huez, Bill Strickland has written a book that manages to reveal new insights into Armstrong's overanalysed character.

The author was granted extraordinary access in late 2008 and throughout 2009 as Armstrong returned to professional cycling after three years in retirement. He rode in the team car during the most memorable stages of the Tour and in many of the races leading up to it. He saw firsthand Armstrong's combative relationship with his teammate and eventual winner Alberto Contador.

And to his credit, Strickland never pretends to be objective. He is forthright about his initial feeling about the comeback, writing:

"I didn't want the man who'd been so full of miracles to come up one short."

But by the end of the journey, he comes to appreciate how Armstrong's third-place finish endeared him even to the French:

"The Tour seemed to be turning Armstrong into a man who was more noble than he'd ever been as a hero."

Flowery writing

The writing is at times flowery. Strickland's description of Armstrong as he exits the team bus during a tune-up race in Spain:

"His charisma was more majesty than grace, a beauty not sublime but terrible, and made not of his movements nor his expressions but our own cumulative memory of all he had vanquished."

But the occasionally overwrought prose is forgiven by the author's passion. Strickland, editor-at-large for Bicycling magazine and an accomplished amateur racer himself, is unabashed about his love for the sport. You can hear the whirring of tires and the gunning of support car engines as he takes readers along for the ride.