The Loyal Lieutenant

Book excerpt: Trading on the sterling reputation that enabled him to survive a widely publicized doping confession, American cyclist “Big George” Hincapie—a record seventeen-time Tour de France participant, Olympian, and key witness in the Lance Armstrong doping case—offers an insightful account of his esteemed career and a sports era defined by performance-enhancing drug use. In this highly anticipated cycling memoir, Big George Hincapie provides the most comprehensive account of a dark period in professional cycling, in which doping scandals have decimated the careers of some of the top athletes in the field. The Loyal Lieutenant reveals how Hincapie’s life has been intrinsically tied to the sport he loves, from his earliest days in Queens, where he was influenced by his Colombian father’s love of cycling and the Colombian “cycling warrior” archetype. Hincapie takes us through his amateur years to the Olympics, and chronicles his exhilarating ride as a professional, including finding his true calling as Lance Armstrong’s most prized “domestique”—leading his then best friend to seven straight Tour de France victories. Hincapie speaks openly about his relationship with Armstrong, how he himself began doping, and why he quit long before the headline-making revelations. His personal evolution is the journey of a man dedicated to coming clean about his past and to restore honor to the sport he loves.