Chasing Lance: The 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's Ride of a Lifetime (with 20 photos included)

• Hardcover - 01 December, 2005 - Little, Brown
• Usually ships in 24 hours
• By: Martin Dugard
• ISBN: 0316166235

Buy this book from Amazon.com

List Price: $23.95
Amazon.com Price: $15.57
You Save: $8.38

Other books you may find interesting

• The 2004 Tour de France

Reviews by readers

Great Book About The Tour Experience

Marty Dugard does a great job capturing the ambience of this amazing race in print. I've been to the last 10 Tours and what I remember most about my trips to France are the kinds of episodes Mr. Dugard shares with his readers in this book. For those who love the race, it's more than just 189 guys in tight pants crawling up the Galibier; it's the countryside and the food and the spectators and the publicity caravan and 342 days of looking forward to the next Tour. Dugard captures all of it. I'll be there again this year and CHASING LANCE has already got me stoked.

3.5 Stars... Pleasant read about experiencing the Tour up close

The 2005 Tour will always be remembered as Lance's last grand stand in the Tour de France, winning an improbable (and most likely never to be equalled record) 7th straight win. It made for great TV viewing (as I experienced it).

In "Chasing Lance: The 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's Ride of a Lifetime" (240 pages), author Martin Dugard brings us what it's like to live and experience the Tour day-to-day. The overwhelming sense I got is that it's a three week logistical nightmare, getting from one stage finish to another, and quite an exhausting feat at that. On that level, the book works quite well, as the author describes how it's like staging the SuperBowl... 23 days straight. As for the race itself, the book can never match the excitement of seeing the race, with all of its colors and the fans' excitement, on TV. Dugard does bring a great episode of standing along with the crazed Spanish Basques fans in the Pyrenees mountains. As for tidbits on Armstrong, Lance's dislike of Greg Lemond's comments (regarding Lance's possible performance-enhancing methods--which Lance has strongly denied) stick out.

As a race fan, I am looking forward to the 2006 Tour de France, even without Lance. The race will, for the first time in a long time, be wide open, without a clear pre-race favorite. That said, "Chasing Lance" is a pleasant read, but certainly not an "essential" read. For that, we'll have to wait for the definitive Lance-authored or Lance-approved book.

Rip Off Con Job

If you want a a non-experts point of view on the 2005 Tour De France who has nothing interesting to say, other than describing the facial features of the people he runs into in the cafe ha happened to drink on the 3rd stage, buy this book. If you care about race tactics, tour history, or anything at all remotely compelling do not buy this book. Its a rushed travelogue intended to take your money. Buy "Lance Amrstrong's War" if you want a real book.

Top of page