Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 a masterpiece of cycling literature December 28, 2008
Those looking for a list of names, a list longer and more detailed than already exposed, perhaps, would be very disappointed, I imagine. Yet, the world of cycling is not merely a list of names. It is a mosaic of human beings influenced daily by money, power, greed and celebrity...and winning is not an end in itself but a means to all those things. The cycling, after all, is but a vehicle to attain them. The sport becomes a secondary consideration to those who, in the greatest of ironies, purport to be its greatest exponents. Witness Philippe Gaumont's very personal account in 'prisonnier du dopage'. This book is a depiction of that mosaic of narcissism. Its darkness and its menace lay in the slow revelation that the most narcissistic, the most mercenary human elements of the mosaic, prosper and progress to shape the new generation and, in doing so, do no more than secure their own legacy. It is damning, it is carefully but colourfully constructed and, to a relative newcomer to the world of cycling, it takes one's breath away. A masterpiece.
 Very readable, but nothing new. December 27, 2008
Well written, and I empathise with the authors sentiments and frustrations; especially regarding 'The Texan'.
However as good as 'Bad Blood' is, there are better books that address the doping problems in cycling, 'Rough Ride' by Paul Kimmage Rough Rideand the EXCELLENT From 'Lance to Landis'. From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France to name a couple.
But it's very readable and the more people who read this kind of book the more people will question how a 'clean' American can beat (by minutes) riders that later either fail drugs tests, or are implemented in drugs scandals.
 Good read but nothing new either December 9, 2008
Although it's true that Whittle adds nothing new to the doping scandals or taint of cheating that cycling simply cannot shake off, this is still a very enjoyable read. Those with only a passing interest in the sport will learn a lot about the politics, tactics, personalities and relationships that characterise it. Those who find it compelling will no doubt identify with Whittle's own sense of betrayal and disbelief that his sport is truly rotten all the way to the core.
I don't agree with other comments that Whittle goes out of his way to link Armstrong to the cheats. What I got from it was the sense that here was a guy who was super-talented, had overcome the very worst odds and was popular with the non-cycling public - someone who could have made some kind of statement against doping - and didn't. That's the pity, the loss.
All in all, a hugely engaging read. But if you want the original (and still the best) dish on cycling's dirty secrets, you still can't do better than Paul Kimmage's "Rough Ride". That is simply the best book on the topic, by someone who actually rode in and finished a Tour.
excellent December 3, 2008
Okay, so a lot of the facts are not new, but it's the author's expert interpretation and analysis of the facts that make this book so brilliant and, ultimately, very fair. He writes with real authority and integrity, having been there in the middle of it all. I don't agree with some of the other reviews which make out that this is a simple character assassination of Armstrong. The author is careful to examine both sides of the arguments and explain how good people can be drawn into a dark world, empathising with those who become corrupted whilst feeling rightly bitter about this most noble of sports becoming something of a joke. I couldn't put this book down.
THE REAL TOUR DE FRANCE REVEALED November 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm not particularly a cycling fan but perhaps the best thing about this book is that you don't need to be, to really enjoy it. I read `Bad Blood' as a Francophile who has lived in France and as somebody who wanted an accessible, geek-free insight into the recent disasters of the Tour de France. In contrast to earlier reviewers, I didn't find it `prattish' at all, just refreshingly honest. It doesn't offer any pat solutions, just the wisdom of experience and it's all the better for it. The journey aspect of the book - from wide-eyed, star-struck sports fan, meeting Lance Armstrong for the first time, to world-weary cynicism as he watches David Millar weep in the Tour's press room - really worked and took me with it. At times, it's almost cinematic, cutting from Lance Armstrong's front room in Texas to the mountains of France and it gains from being personal and subjective, rather than forensic and black and white. It's also about letting go of your dreams, knowing that you will be alienated as a result - as he says in the book, drug-taking in sport is too easily demonised, because even `good' people cheat. Rather than a dispassionate scientific analysis of laboratory procedures, it's almost a love story and he's not afraid to admit that. The argument, that doping is not a simplistic issue with simple answers, but something with real moral complexity, is expertly made. But the book is at its best when he talks about Lance Armstrong's megalomania, the consequences of Armstrong's control-freakery, and about his relationship with David Millar, a rider he clearly adores, but whose doping confession clouded their relationship. Yes, I felt sorry for him and for other fans who have felt the same sense of betrayal. Yes, he says he is bitter, but then, after working in such a corrupt world for that length of time, who wouldn't be?
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