The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs

Written by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Narrated by Tyler Hamilton and Sean Runnette

On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner at a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. The two had met five years before while Coyle was writing his bestselling book, Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force. But this time, Tyler had something else on his mind. He finally wanted to come clean, about everything: the doping, the lying, his years as Lance Armstrong's teammate on U.S. Postal, his decade spent running from the truth. 'I'm sorry,' he told Coyle. 'It just feels so good to be able to talk about this. I've been quiet for so many years.'

Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell his story - and his sport's story - in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven - and some flawed - characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Sep 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781448160815

Reviews for The Secret Race

[kymethra · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Heartbreaking, as a long time cycling fan, but essential reading.

[playingbooky · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Secret Race is a (hopefully) honest account of the rampant doping in the sport of cycling throughout the past twenty years. Tyler Hamilton, once one of the sport's top riders, reveals how doping quickly became a necessity to anyone hoping to compete at an elite level. Along the way, Hamilton divulges information regarding cycling's most prominent figure, Lance Armstrong, including his use, and subsequent cover-up, of performance enhancing drugs.

In a sport that has become incredibly clouded with secrets and lies, Hamilton's book accomplishes a rare thing; it makes you believe he is telling the truth. There are a surprising amount of corroborating stories, anecdotes, and testimonies throughout the book that provide support for Hamilton's story, but they aren't even necessary. Hamilton's writing (with Coyle's help) is incredibly honest, personal, and detailed, and creates such an authentic story that it is nearly impossible to harbor doubts about its accuracy.

While I was definitely impressed by Hamilton's book, it did occasionally fall into, and later rely upon, some tedious information (procedures for blood transfusions, lists of different drugs, hematocrit levels, names of former riders and specific tour stages). Personally, I enjoyed even these aspects of the story, as my memories of the Tour are still fresh enough for me to follow the references, but for a broader audience there will likely be some passages that become frustrating to read.

I also have a gripe about the cover. To me, this cover feels a bit bland and boring. Largely blank except for two crudely cropped photos of Hamilton and Armstrong on racing bikes, I first thought this was a self-published book before I recognized the title. The book is very good and speaks for itself, but it deserves a larger audience than this cover will draw in.

In the end, The Secret Race is a very personal and gripping look into the cycling industry as well as a captivating memoir of Tyler Hamilton's life.

Thanks to First Reads and Bantam Books for providing me this copy of The Secret Race.

[shayrp76 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A behind the scenes look at the sport of cycling and doping from a candid professional cyclist. Tyler Hamilton takes readers on his journey in the toughest sport in the world and how someone incredibly athletic comes to make the decisions he made to insure he could compete with the best.I became a fan of cycling recently (within the last few years) so I was already aware of widespread doping and I had no idea who Tyler Hamilton is until I read this. Some people would be appalled by the fact that these athletes dope and would think of it in the same way that they think of a baseball player doping. I already knew that it was completely different and that difference is incredibly important so this isn’t shocking to me at all. Reading from a cyclist’s perspective was a nice change and made it more human than reading solely from a journalist’s opinion. I found myself respecting Tyler Hamilton early on in this and it has made me want to research other cyclists that were mentioned as well. There is that moment when you ask yourself what you would do if the shoe was on your foot and then ask if you’re being honest. I will highly recommend this one to everyone (fan or not).

[velopunk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked Hamilton before I knew he was a doper. Then I was disgusted him, especially after his chimera defense. This book is brutally honest and I believe it. I see today that there are reports that Lance Armstrong is considering admitting his PED use. Hamilton's account rings true and has many details I've not seen before on how they doped and still tested clean.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong were both born just a few months apart in 1971, they were teammates before they became famous and saw one another rise (and fall) through their professional careers. And it turns out they were both heavily into doping. Hamilton has come clean in this detailed memoir of what happened. The type of dope, how they took it, how they hid it, how it helped them (and Lance in particular) become the world's top racers. Hamilton and Armstrong have a deep division today because Armstrong still maintains his innocence but Hamilton comes across the better and stronger man for admitting his guilt and putting it all out in the open. This is a really well written and compelling book, hard to put down. It's larger than two people, it's about the sport as a whole - and it's an ancient story of redemption and the power of truth. I got a lot out of this book. One day sooner than later Armstrong will write his own book but it's hard to imagine it topping the power of this book.