In 2003 Lance Armstrong won the coveted Centenary Tour de France. It was the most compelling of his five Tour victories and cemented his reputation as one of the great individual talents in sporting history. However, without the team of brilliant athletes assembled to support him, victory in the Tour would have been impossible -- even for Lance. This is, in part, the story of the 2003 Tour de France told by one of Lance Armstrong's right-hand men. Victor Hugo Pena is one of Lance's 'domestiques,' those anomalous figures with no counterpart elsewhere in sport. The domestique can expect little recognition from the general public, and less from the press. Just occasionally, a domestique takes over the yellow jersey and steps into history. In 2003 Victor Hugo Pena did just that.

This is his story, too, told in a vivid and insightful elucidation of professional cycling's inner workings.