Book Review: Riis – Stages of Light and Dark by Bjarne Riis

 

Riis

Stages of Light and Dark
by Bjarne Riis

Riis
I read this book for Cycling Shorts during the summer and it has taken me a long time to finally put my thoughts about it into words. Not that I have mixed feelings about the book I do not but I needed to take time to try to put into words my thoughts as I suspected that I might just be a little controversial.

 

I believe it is important for us to confront the issues raised and Riis was the fifth book I read in the summer that dealt with drugs in cycling. The first was Paul Kimmage’s Rough Ride, the second was David Millar’s Racing through the Dark [read Cycling Shorts review here], the third Laurent Fignon’s We were young and carefree, fourth Willy Voet’s Breaking the Chain [read my review here]. Each book gave me a different perspective or view of doping and substance abuse and its inherent and historic nature in cycling.

 

Each subsequent book made me feel that Paul Kimmage was being very unfairly treated as he really only scratched the surface and really did not reveal as much as others but what was clear is that he had opened pandoras box and the establishment was not happy.

 

What Riis has done with his book has really given a broad insight into the hard work and stresses that face a professional cyclist. Just like other cyclists Bjarne faces that difficult decision to dope or not to dope. Riis makes it totally clear that it was his call and his alone. No one forced him no one pushed him but he felt he had no option. Just like Darth Vader Riis stepped over to the darkside. Just like Lance; Riis, when quizzed never actually said he did not dope but edged answers in the same way any good politician does, “I have never tested positive, I have never given a positive test” rang out, persuading fans and team mates that he was clean. But was he, like others, fooling anyone? Probably not those close to the riders who often had a clear idea of what was happening but kept their heads down (to listen to Cycling Shorts interview with Ned Boulting on the subject click here).

 

As with Voets and Millar, Riis is very open about what he did and how me managed to avoid detection, however Riis goes further and deals with the effect on him emotionally of his choice. Like Millar he comes back and has a desire, or so he claims, to help clean up the sport and run a lean and clean team. The book covers the setting up and running of CSC which greatly complements the Nordisk film Overcoming about the 2004 Tour de France. Riis goes on to share his deep feeling of being stabbed in the back with the implosion of the team as the Shleck’s, Andersen, Nygaard and backroom staff plot against him and set up Leopard Trek. Once again Riis bounces back and with the drive an passion he has for the sport he loves he manages to rebuild and create a new team.

 

Riis’s book is a great read and I am surprised that Cycling News can write the article below. Pederson and the author of the article have obviously never read Riis Stages of Light and Dark as Riis clearly speaks out about his past in full. In my view, no he is not damaging cycling and its credibility, he has messed up and is trying his best to make amends.

 

Riis: Stages of Light and Dark by Bjarne Riis Cycling Shorts RatingRiis Stages of Light and Dark is a great read and I would highly recommend that you dash out and pick up a copy to read. 100%

Title:
Riis: Stages of Light and Dark  

Author:
Bjarne Riis    

Published by:
Vision Sports Publishing (14 May 2012)

Available in paperback, iBook & Kindle

Price:
RRP £12.99 (Paperback) RRP £12.99 (Digital)

 

 

Riis damaging cycling and its credibility, Danish UCI member says

By: Cycling NewsPublished: November 28, 2012, 17:05, Updated: November 28, 2012, 17:06Edition:Second Edition Cycling News, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

 

Saxo-Tinkoff team owner needs to “come out and talk”

Bjarne Riis and his teams have established Danish cycling in the world, but his actions now are “very damaging to the sport and its credibility,” according to the Danish representative at the UCI.  It is “high time for Bjarne Riis to come out and talk.”

Riis confessed in 2007 to having doped when he was a rider. He has since been named as providing doping advice, if not more, in various books and doping confessions from recent riders. The Saxo-Tinkoff team owner has consistently refused to comment on such matters.

“Here in Denmark we have a single problem in Bjarne Riis,” Peder Pedersen told feltet.dk. “His team and his comings and goings have been tremendously positive for the development of Danish cycling and the resulting high interest.

“But he keeps quiet at the moment and will neither confirm nor deny the allegations that are against him, it is very damaging to the sport and its credibility. All who follow it here can see that there are answers missing to some things, giving insecurity and losing credibility. So it is high time that Bjarne Riis comes out and talks.”

Since 2006, Pedersen has been a member of the Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), set up to work with doping cases and to stay on top of anti-doping testing and developments. He is aware of the ironies involved.

“I have been involved in the Anti-doping Foundation for six years, where I have a clear conscience about what we have done. Of course it’s very uncomfortable, it appears at the moment. Although most of it belongs to the past, we should not be blind to the fact that it also reaches into the present and in the future. With the revelations that have come, then that is what we really need to make sure to get it handled.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Breaking the Chain by Willy Voet

 

Breaking the Chain

Drugs and Cycling – The True Story
by Willy Voet – Translated by William Fotheringham

 
Wow what a book. If you had ever wondered how and why the Festina incident exploded or rather imploded during the 1998 Tour de France then this is the book to read. A read that will be hard to put down and if you do will be itching to pick it up as soon as you can! Written by the Festina Team soigneur Willy Voet, the man who was caught red handed with a car full of team drugs. He shows you the murky world of team meds and doping from insiders perspective, it’s quite horrifying.

Actually this book goes much much further then you might have ever imagined, many riders who have used and abused drugs both legal and less then legal are named and in some instances shamed. You will also find out how riders are able to use banned substances and avoid testing positive by either timing of doses or the types of drugs and mixes used. In fact Mr Voet goes a step further and explains how within twenty minutes a rider can take an IV solution that will ensure the rider does not fail a random out of competition test, very convenient if the tester turns up while the rider is in the shower!

This book goes beyond any other book I have read about doping and certainly leaves nothing to the imagination, it also confirms many of the facts disclosed by other books I have read. There is so much more that I would love to tell you about but then it would not be worth you reading the book!

The bottom line is go out and buy a copy, it might not give you all the answers but I can guarantee that it will certainly get you thinking!

PS. If you think Lance is above and beyond suspicion then I would recommend that you read this book and some of the recent revelations from his soigneur are confirmed by Willy as standard practice at the time. It also ties in nicely with some of the issues covered in David Millar’s autobiography (Racing Through The Dark – The Fall and Rise of David Millar, read our review here) they make good companion books. This gets a Cycling Shorts Star Buy rating of 100%… the first!

This really is a must read if you want to make an informed decision about the state of cycling pre and post 1998.


 
 
Title:
Breaking the Chain: Drugs and Cycling – The True Story  

Author: Willy Voet – Translated by William Fotheringham    

Published by Yellow Jersey Press & Vintage Digital

Available in Paperback, iBook & Kindle

Price:
RRP £8.99 (Paperback), RRP £8.99 (eBook)

 
 

 
 
 
 

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