The author recounts his growing enthusiasm of the sport thanks to watching television coverage of the Tour de France, reading his housemates stash of cycling magazines and watching videos repeatedly of past tours in the 1980s. He admits he was hooked. He began cycling himself and describes the thrill and exhilaration of cycling around London. In his words 'I was already addicted.'

As his interest in the sport grows so too of course does his knowledge. The book shows the development of a wide-eyed enthusiastic and unquestioningly devoted hero-worshipper of the top cyclists. Whittle describes how his hobby finally became his job when in August 1993 his first interview, his first 'sold' story was with then emerging star Lance Armstrong. This first encounter with the eventual seven-time winner of the Tour de France is told amusingly and the cycling legend's appearance and personality are vividly recounted for the reader. Over the course of the book Whittle has many more fascinating encounters with Armstrong.

Whittle's writing style is engaging and engrossing. He is excellent at setting the scene and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport is unquestioned. The reader is treated to excellent descriptions of characters of the cycling world, riders, team leaders, doctors and groupies. Whittle manages to be self-deprecating and brutally honest in his assessment of unfolding events.

As his interest grows he starts the magazine 'Procycling' this is at the height of allegations of doping and Armstrong's amazing return to the Tour and first victory after a life-threatening battle with cancer. Whittle is now fully aware of the dissent and factions tearing at the soul of the sport. The book now delves into the sports victims, those that succumbed to the temptation of doping, riders who were caught using amphetamines and the drug EPO.

The benefits of EPO are that it helps kidneys provide more red blood cells through the bloodstream carrying oxygen. As Whittle explains 'It didn't take long for athletes and their doctors to wake up to the possibilities of enriching the oxygen-carrying capabilities of their blood...' He goes on to explain how seductive this new wonder drug would be as 'staving off fatigue and promoting recovery could make the difference between success and failure...' The book swiftly moves and stays in darker territory from now on. The impact of the discovery of doping and its effects threatened the sport itself. Whittle explains that there was a form of omerta between competitors that they would not blow the whistle on each other for being a 'doper.' The sport is no longer performed on a level playing field.

The result of all of this is a series of casualties from the sport, athletes that are discovered are shunned by the cycling community and end up as broken men or even dead; Whistleblowers are figuratively and literally spat on by their peers. Suspicion and paranoia is rife. Whittle covers cases like David Millar and Philippe Gaumont and many other cautionary tales. Past heroes like the American Greg Lemond emerge as reminders of a more innocent era. He of course in being an outspoken critic of doping is reviled in contemporary cycling circles, a fact that disturbs and troubles Whittle.

This is an excellent read. What can I say? I am not a big fan of cycling and have only a passing interest in the sport but this book totally engaged me and I literally could not put it down. It is full of shocking revelations and cautionary tales. Whittle is clearly in love with the sport but also hurt and even bitter by the end. Through many candid interviews and his acute observations a very different picture of the sport emerges. The truth is not always pretty but this book is not afraid to face it head on.

As Whittle puts it in his own words 'It is so very hard to accept, so very hard indeed, when you learn that your heroes have feet of clay'