The Award-Winning, International Best-Seller"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 EUR100,000 a yearas an amateur bike racer. The next year, he turned pro and his salary quadrupled then rose again to EUR900,000 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.
In his tell-all book DESCENT: My Epic Fall from Cycling Superstardom to Doping Dead End, Dekker reveals a sordid way of life full of blood bags, drugs, prostitutes, and money. DESCENT tells the story of a yearslong bender that exposes the brutal truth of his life as a professional cyclist. And Dekker is not alone; he names those who fell with him and those who aided in his downfall. In DESCENT, we take an unflinching look at the European peloton as it roars through its modern boom yearsthe height of the EPO eraand what we see is shocking. You won't be able to turn away from this page-turning read about one man's rise, fall, and redemption and what his story reveals about professional sports.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. In the Hotel
2. Dead Ordinary
3. Love at First Sight
4. First Call
5. Junior Camp
6. The Commitment
7. First Shot
8. Jacques the Manager
9. Initiation
10. A Boost for the Worlds
11. The Coach
12. The Territory
13. Your Blood Is Your Blood
14. No Worries
15. One Is Not Enough
16. Stepping Up
17. A Hippie in Love
18. The 2007 Tour de France
19. It's You, Not Me
20. Trickier Than You'd Think
21. Doing Without
22. Positively Positive
23. Give Them Nothing
24. Falling
25. Wiped Out
26. Lifeline
27. Cards on the Table
28. Ashes and Embers
29. Adrift
30. The Stupidest Idea Ever
31. The Attempt
32. Big Talk, Small Talk, No Talk
33. A Turn of the Tables
34. The Story of My Descent
Epilogue
About the Coauthor
