The Race to Truth

The Race to Truth may not be the most eloquent or well written book on "the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping program that sport has ever seen", but the complete candor and guilelessness of Emma O'Reilly captivated this reader as I was taken on a fresh and insightful journey into the dark, sordid world of professional cycling.

Certainly Emma O'Reilly was and still is subject to Lance Armstrong's Steve Jobs like reality distortion field (aptly referred to as caught in Lance's slipstream), but ultimately this is a more a story about forgiveness than redemption.

This is not just a tale about an imperfect man maligned by his own greed and hubris, but more so a condemning indictment of a once beautiful sport rotten to the core.

Along with books, I also love road cycling - and therefore I've read pretty much every book going about the Lance Armstrong saga. The market is unsurprisingly saturated. But when I got the opportunity to read The Race To Truth by US Postal's former soigneur, Emma O'Reilly, I took it.
Emma's straightforward, non-nonsense, account of her time as a soigneur and of her role in unveiling the truth about Lance Armstrong and doping in cycling is engaging and fresh despite the material being largely familiar to anyone who has followed the saga closely. It's both brutal about Armstrong as a person and as a doper, but his also places his performance drug abuse in the context of the sport at the time. It's interesting that Armstrong himself provides the foreword to the book as he doesn't come out of it well- but O'Reilly does commend both his charitable activities and still seems to feel guilt about telling the truth about what was happening at US Postal. Once again, the true villains of the tale appear to be those behind the team who were enabling and encouraging the doping even though it's the riders themselves who have suffered (of course, they are not blameless but they have largely faced punishment where others have not). Overall it's a good story, and I enjoyed reading it, but it's unfortunate for O'Reilly that her evidence has appeared before and that it's taken until now for her version to be published as I think the public (and me from my own personal standpoint) have heard the story too many times and want cycling to move on. It doesn't add much that's new, but it is probably the closest account you can get to US Postal and the most nuanced. If you've already read lots about Armstrong, it might be a bit too familiar- but if you've not read about it before, this would be an excellent place to start.

A great book, very informative and interesting. A read page turner. I couldn't put it down. The writer used brilliant descriptions that made the reader feel they were transported into the cycling world. Great insight. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Emma o Reilly and Netgalley for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

A welcome addition to the growing library of books showing the real Lance Armstrong. Having read Tyler Hamilton’s The Secret Race, and Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh I had questioned what O'Reilly's book could add. Her perspective as one of the victims in this sorry tale is a welcome new perspective.

The book is not particularly well written and takes a while to warm up. Her comments on Walsh are particularly interesting. While it doesn't add a huge amount to the story, it is an insightful read.

As a cyclist myself I found this book absolutely fascinating. To find out what happens behind the scenes. Who can ever trust cycling again? I think Emma O'Reilly was very brave to become the whistleblowe and it should have been made easier for her.