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Descent : my epic fall from cycling superstardom to doping dead end / Thomas Dekker ; as told to Thijs Zonneveld ; translated from the Dutch by David Doherty. --

by Dekker, Thomas, 1984-

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VeloPress, 2017.

796.62092 D328d

Dekker, Thomas, 1984-

Cyclists -- Netherlands -- Biography.

Doping in sports.

9781937715809 (pbk.)

213 pages ; 23 cm.

Translation of: Mijn gevecht.

I have success, money, women. I've been lionized by the public and the press. The world is at my feet. I've spread my wings and here I am, soaring above everything and everyone. But in reality, the descent has already begun. At age 20, Thomas Dekker was already earning €100,000 a year as an amateur bike racer. The next year, he turned pro and his salary quadrupled then rose again to €900,000 as he established his position as a super-domestique among Europe's wealthiest superteams. The sport marveled at Dekker's rise as the young racer set his ambitions on capturing cycling's biggest prizes for himself. Before long, though, Dekker found himself corrupted by money, dazzled by fame, and cracking under the relentless pressure to perform at a superhuman level. Dekker reveals a sordid way of life full of blood bags, drugs, prostitutes, and money. The story of a years long bender that exposes the brutal truth of his life as a professional cyclist. And he names those who fell with him and those who aided in his downfall. An unflinching look at the European peloton as it roars through its modern boom years, the height of the EPO era, and what we see is shocking. One man's rise, fall, and redemption and what his story reveals about professional sports.

Zonneveld, Thjs.

Doherty, David (Translator)

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