Review of Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story (2014) by Chris M — 21 Jul 2014

As a longtime fan of pro-cycling and previously a Lance Armstrong believer, I've had to reassess everything since the spate of confessions in recent years.

When I first read "It's not about the bike" I was struck by how focused and partial his storytelling was. Armstrong kept a near psychopathic control over his own narrative, and Alex Holmes' excellent film brings this to life with compelling clarity.

Perhaps its best aspect is how it makes no apology for showing us how great Armstrong was before his cancer, how driven he was as a neo-pro young rider. He was not 'made' by his cancer, he was already there, mostly fully formed.

But his cancer both fuelled and enabled his resurrection and ascension to an exalted position where he was able to look the world in the eye and lie without any self-doubt.

This is a strongly-told tale. It's more than a little depressing and even scary, and definitely worth your time, even if you're not a sports fan. Like SENNA, it's a brilliant piece of human drama.