Descent - by Thomas Dekker (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><b>The Award-Winning, International Best-Seller</b></p><p><b><i>"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."</i></b></p><p>At age 20, Thomas Dekker was already earning 100,000 a year--as an <i>amateur</i> 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. </p><p>In his tell-all book <i>DESCENT: My Epic Fall from Cycling Superstardom to Doping Dead End</i>, Dekker reveals a sordid way of life full of blood bags, drugs, prostitutes, and money. <i>DESCENT</i> 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 <i>DESCENT</i>, we take 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. 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. </p><p/><br></br><p><b> From the Back Cover </b></p></br></br><p><b>A BRUTAL PORTRAIT OF LIFE AT THE TOP</b></p><p>At age 20, Thomas Dekker was earning $150,000 a year--as an <i>amateur</i> bike racer. The next year, he turned pro and was soon swimming in more than $1 million as he established his place on one of Europe's wealthiest superteams.</p><p>As quickly as he rose, though, Dekker found himself drowning in a corrupting shower of blood bags, drugs, prostitutes, and money, and cracking under the pressure to perform at a superhuman level.</p><p>In this fast-paced, tell-all memoir, Dekker delivers a page-turning tear through one man's rise, fall, and redemption during cycling's EPO-fueled boom years. And Dekker is not alone: He names those who fell with him and those who aided his downfall. Yet he blames no one but himself.</p><p>You won't be able to turn away from this unflinching look at the sordid truth about the European peloton and what it reveals about professional sports.</p><p>"The most shocking doping memoir professional cycling has produced." <b>--Daniel Friebe, author of <i>Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal</i></b></p><p>"Each chapter is a conscious move toward self-destruction, and when the end arrives, the reader, too, feels ruined." <b>--Erik Raschke, <i>CyclingTips</i></b></p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>The most shocking doping memoir professional cycling has produced. -<b>Daniel Friebe, British sports journalist</b></p><p>A remarkable story of a fallen cycling hero.-<b>CyclingReview.nl</b></p><p>Brutally honest. -<b><i>Cycling News</i></b></p><p>It's been a long time since there was so much ado about a cycling book. It's a shock when you realize that a cyclist has a rock 'n' roll life instead of a monk's existence. It's time to read it yourself and judge it. -<b>Racefietsblog.nl</b></p><p>A staggering underworld of blood bags, testosterone patches, and injections. No one is spared. -<b>Eric Palmen, <i>BiografiePortaal</i></b></p><p>Thomas Dekker has done something brave here: He has opened sutured wounds with the hope that the rot will dry up. And for that alone we should be thankful. -<b>Erik Raschke, <i>CyclingTips</i></b></p><p>Let one thing be clear: For the average cycling lover, this is a hard confrontation with 'dirty' cycling. -<b>Laurens De Greef, <i>Bicycletta Read & Ride</i></b></p><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><p><b>Thomas Dekker is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose talent on the bike quickly took him to the top of the sport.</b> He raced for The Netherlands in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, won two Dutch National Time Trial Championships, and captured victories in the 2006 Tirreno-Adriatico and the 2007 Tour of Romandie. He rode for the Dutch Rabobank superteam and then Silence-Lotto before a retroactively tested sample returned positive for EPO. In 2009, Dekker was suspended for two years for the drug violation, and it was later confirmed during Operacion Puerto that Dekker was among the clients of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. After his suspension, Dekker joined the American Garmin Development Team and rode for Garmin-Barracuda from 2012-2014. Dekker claims to have ridden clean for Jonathan Vaughters and he became a popular rider in the American peloton. He retired after an attempt on the World Hour Record in 2015. </p><p><b>Thijs Zonneveld is a Dutch sports journalist and former professional cyclist.</b> He covers the sport of cycling for Holland's biggest newspaper and serves as a commentator for Dutch public television. His work appears regularly in No.nl, Nusport.nl, and Wieler Magazine. Zonneveld received the award for the best Dutch sports journalist in 2016 for <i>Descent</i>.</p>
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