Living with the consequences
Lance Armstrong's 'right-hand man', George Hincapie relates in a new book his struggle with and an eventual capitulation to the scourge of doping
George Hincapie was the "Loyal Lieutenant" who helped Lance Armstrong to seven Tour de France titles, only to later provide the key testimony that brought his downfall.
Now, Hincapie is talking again about one of the darkest eras in cycling.
In a book due out this month, part memoir and part mea culpa, Hincapie discusses not only his rise in cycling, from the son of a Colombian immigrant in the New York City borough of Queens to the top teammate of Armstrong, but also the pervasive use of performance-enhancing substances that came to mark an entire generation - and ultimately turned Armstrong from hero into pariah.
Is it right, though, that he's being blamed for 100 years of doping? I don't think so
Hincapie said he "didn't hold back" in relaying his story, The Loyal Lieutenant: Leading Out Lance and Pushing Through the Pain on the Rocky Road to Paris, whether it be the seedy underside of doping or the glitz and glamour of riding on the Champs Elysees. The book is due for release on May 27.
"There were many times I said, 'Why am I doing this?'' Hincapie said. "I wanted to tell my story and have the reader decide what to think about it."
Written in narrative form, the book includes first-person accounts from several riders from Hincapie's generation, including Armstrong, who addressed the issue of doping in a foreword.