Product Description

Lance Armstrong won the 1999 Tour de France in spectacular style, taking four stages and both a mountain and a time trial. His story is even more remarkable because he was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer in October 1996.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its gruelling intensity. Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him. There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living colour. It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner, Amazon.com

Express on Sunday
‘If you read just one sports book this year, this is the one’

Time Out
‘So darn riveting that it simply cannot be put down…warmly recommended’

Customer Reviews

An engrossing, emotional, uplifting story of human triumph
As the title suggests, this book is not just about cycling, and it would be a terrible shame if only cycling fans, or for that matter sports fans were to read it. This is truly an inspirational read, not in a sacharine, all American hero way, but as the story of a man who went all the way to death's door with cancer and fought his way back not merely to life but to the summit of one of the world's toughest sports. Armstrong's story is told in a frank, engaging and totally engrossing way that at times makes painful reading but is equally hard to put down. The ultimately triumphant conclusion is not a fairytale cop-out, but shows how life can be transformed both despite, and because of, personal suffering. Armstrong tells of the struggle undergone by both him and his mother to reach the pinacle of sporting success, world champion at only 21, only for testicular cancer to threaten to end his life. Since he wrote the book you know he survived, but the miracle of how he went on to even greater professional heights is breathtaking - even more so in the context of his second Tour de France victory. No strong-arm tale of sporting toughness, the honest recollection of personal struggle, even once cancer was beaten brings tears to the eyes. This is simply a great read, anyone who follows sport, who has been touched by cancer should take a look. The positive message of determination and hope make it a captivating book.

the most powerful book I have read in years
I read the book in two days flat. Potential readers must not think it is only about Lance Armstrong's battle to overcome cancer, remarkable though that journey is. There is much to interest the cycling enthusiast: training regimes of top professional cyclists, how the peleton works, what its like to ride in the middle of the peleton, how the teams work together to protect their top rider and enable him to win stages. There were times when I felt I was with Armstrong on his bike, battling up the hills in the freezing cold and felt the emotion and elation of winning. His fight against testicular cancer is a moving, painful, brutally honest and incredibly up-lifting account of what he went through at every stage of his treatment. A close student friend of my daughter was recently diagnosed as having testicular cancer - he is 21. We have sent him this book in the hope that he will gain courage and determination through reading it. I can't recommend this book too highly.

courage personified
This book is what Lance Armstrong is all about. Grit, determination, courage and passion, the man shows them all on the bike and in the pages of this book.
If you have been living on planet Earth in the last 10 years you will know about the plight of Lance Armstrong. This is a guy who snatched life out of the jaws of death. To get back on his bike and complete a Tour De France after that shows the depts of his strenght & courage but to win it a record seven times beggars belief. This June he left the group of people know as sporting greats to join a small select group that have achieved sporting immortality.
This book will have you in tears, you can feel his pain but you can also feel his elation in victory.
An amazing man, who should be an inspiration to all, from those who just want to improve their training times to those unfortunate to be in the same or similar position as Lance was in. Read this book, it spills inspiration. As Lance says, pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.