Thomas Dekker was once the golden boy of Dutch cycling – a prodigy, a Vuelta stage winner, a Rabobank darling. But the same high-pressure, high-stakes world that made him a star also led him down the well-worn path of EPO, blood bags, and clandestine needlework in Spanish hotel rooms. “The Descent” isn’t just another doping confessional; it’s an unvarnished, often stomach-churning look at the moral rot that seeped into the sport during the late Armstrong era.
It’s easy to dismiss Dekker as another fallen angel seeking redemption through a tell-all. But unlike “The Secret Race” by Tyler Hamilton or David Millar’s “Racing Through the Dark”, which strike a delicate balance between self-flagellation and atonement, “The Descent” is brutally unapologetic. It doesn’t seek forgiveness – it simply lays the carcass bare.
A Tour Through the Shadows
From the opening pages, Dekker’s tone is raw, almost nihilistic. He details his rise through the ranks, a promising junior talent who found himself sucked into the Rabobank system, a well-oiled doping machine masquerading as a development pipeline.
We’re introduced to the shadowy doctors, the covert “preparations,” and the relentless need to keep up with the peloton’s fastest men, who were juiced to the gills.
Dekker’s account of racing during the mid-2000s is visceral. The book spares no detail about what it took to stay competitive; microdosing EPO, jabbing himself with needles before breakfast, and hooking up to transfusion bags in hotel rooms.
He gives us names, places, and methods with the precision of a forensic report. The descriptions of his time at Rabobank, particularly under the influence of controversial doctors like Geert Leinders, expose the systemic nature of doping at the time.
For those of us who remember Dekker as the fresh-faced talent from the late 2000s, the transformation is staggering. The book charts his descent, not just into doping but into a toxic lifestyle of late-night partying, excess, and self-destruction. It’s the kind of material you’d expect more from a rock-and-roll memoir than a cycling book.
A World of Hypocrisy
One of “The Descent”‘s strengths is how it exposes the hypocrisy of the system. Dekker paints a picture of a sport where the lines between clean and dirty were blurred beyond recognition.
The governing bodies, team managers, and even soigneurs all knew what was happening, yet they turned a blind eye as long as the wins kept coming.
Unlike Millar, who presents himself as a man seduced by the dark side but ultimately redeemed, Dekker never really tries to justify his choices. There’s no moral high ground here, just the cold, hard reality of a young rider making the same choices so many of his peers did. The difference is that Dekker is willing to say it out loud, in all its ugly, unfiltered truth.
The Writing—Fast, Sharp, and Unflinching
The prose, written in collaboration with journalist Thijs Zonneveld, is fast, sharp, and unflinching. It reads like a thriller, with a breakneck pace that mirrors the chaos of Dekker’s own downward spiral.
It’s brutally honest, often to the point of discomfort, and it doesn’t shy away from the dirt, both literal and figurative.
For those who love cycling books that romanticize the suffering of the sport, this isn’t it. There are no lyrical passages about the beauty of the mountains or the poetry of the peloton.
This is the grimy, bloodstained underbelly of professional cycling, told by a man who lived it and lost it all.
In Summary
Is “The Descent” essential reading? Absolutely. Not because it’s a feel-good redemption story, but because it’s one of the most brutally honest books ever written about life inside the pro peloton. Dekker doesn’t ask for sympathy – he just tells it like it was.
For fans of the sport who want the unfiltered truth, “The Descent” is a must-read. For those who prefer their cycling heroes untarnished, best to look elsewhere. But if you’ve ever wondered what really went on behind the closed doors of the mid-2000s superteams, Dekker lays it all out in black and white.
Four out of five stars—because while it’s a gripping read, you may need a shower afterward.
* * *
“The Descent” by Thomas Dekker
- Publisher : Ebury Press (5 Apr. 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1785037439
- ISBN-13 : 978-1785037436
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