The Loyal Lieutenant: Leading out Lance and pushing through the pain on the rocky road to Paris: My Story
George Hincapie, Craig Hummer
Language: English
Pages: 183
ISBN: 2:00324121
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The stunningly candid autobiography of one of cycling's great names and the man who rode alongside Lance Armstrong for each of his now infamous seven Tour victories
George Hincapie has always personified more than the sport in which he chose to compete, cycling, and his legacy will be more than the sum of his accomplishments on the road. It is also intertwined with the team-mates he helped to achieve success.
As Lance Armstrong's trusted sidekick, he helped re-write the record books of the greatest cycling event in the world, the Tour de France. No other team-mate was with Lance for all seven of his wins. No one was closer to him as a friend or confidante and no one was closer to the scandal which would ultimately bring down Armstrong and so many of those around him.
Told with stunning candour, 'The Loyal Lietenant' offers the most transparent and engaging account yet of the now infamous years of cycling's modern history.
It is a book that will once again change our perceptions of what it means to be a sporting great.
race. I’d even heard that he’d written letters to the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), the governing body of the sport, telling them to test for certain substances based on what he had learned through his own research. Nerves were frayed. Money, reputations, and history were on the line. April 11, 2004. Paris–Roubaix. Another shot at the Hell of the North, and another instance where I was close, but not good enough. To be honest, I really didn’t care. I’d had a lot coursing through my mind
my inner circle of friends. That’s what mattered to me most. If my brother watched on TV, then told me I had done an amazing job marshaling my man into place, that was all the validation I wanted and needed. RICH Stage 17, 2009. George crashes and breaks his collarbone. He didn’t tell anyone for fear he’d be forced to leave the Tour. He was so instrumental in Mark Cavendish’s six stage wins that year, and they’d developed such a close bond in their time together. He didn’t want to let Mark
contention. As we approached the final chicane, I put everything into the pedals one last time, standing and nearly ripping my handlebars off with the force I was transferring via my leverage. MARK CAVENDISH Our goal had been to just stay together. When George took off at the 1K banner, the speed changed so quickly, I had to get out of the saddle to accelerate. I was on Mark Renshaw’s wheel, and I almost lost contact. Fuck, it was like in Star Trek when they go to warp speed. As I pulled off
pack and subsequent catch, my confidence grew. Finally, I pounced, and put myself among the group that stuck. Being in a breakaway never complicated a race; it always made it easier, and that day the mission was even simpler. My mind was filled with daydreams of winning the stage and using the podium as part pulpit, declaring to the world, “Test my hair, test my urine, test my blood, and freeze it for fifty years! You’re not going to find a fucking thing! Ever!” Winning was my way to prove I
would have to react, but I was fine with it all, actually more relaxed than ever. Why? Because I’d known for ages that these guys had testified, and now I wasn’t going to be the only one dealing with the crap. My attitude was “Bring it.” Safety in numbers. The days flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to ride into Paris. There’d been a rumor about me leading the peloton onto the Champs-Élysées, but I did not want to do it. Having the eyes of the world on me is not my style, but as we drew