Description
Tour de Force is an extraordinary story of greatness pushed to its limits. It's the behind- the-scenes look at the 2004 professional cycling season and Lance Armstrong's journey to his historic sixth Tour de France victory.
Made newly vulnerable by age, fame, defections from his team, and an unprecedented army of challengers, Armstrong fights on all fronts to do what he does like no one else: exert his will to win. That will - which famously propelled him beyond his tumultuous Texas youth and beyond cancer to a level of achievement and fame arguably unparalleled in sports - is revealed in new and sometimes startling dimension.
We see how Armstrong rebuilds after his near- loss in the 2003 Tour, discovering new strategies to cope with his changing body. We see how he copes after his painful divorce and separation from his children. We see how he operates among controversial Italian sports doctors, New Age healers, aggressive lawyers, obsessed fans, and jittery corporations (not to mention his girlfriend, the rock star Sheryl Crow).
We see the subtle mind games Armstrong plays with his US Postal Team, his opponents, and himself. We see him through the eyes of competitors and his close circle of friends, as well as explore his powerful relationship with his mother Linda. We see what happens when he's faced with a potentially devastating book about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. And finally we see it all culminate in the 2004 Tour de France, the toughest sports event on the planet.
Tour de Force offers the first real journey into an arena packed with underdogs, gurus, and original characters. in doing so it provides a penetrating appraisal of Lance Armstrong, the often-inspiring. wholly remarkable yet flawed hero, and the world that shapes him.
