Every Second Counts is, in some respects, the book that fans of Armstrong's cycling feats have waited for. While It's Not About the Bike used his cycling mostly as a backdrop for the agonizing fight against his disease, this new book revels in the joy - and steel-willed sense of purpose - that Armstrong takes from the sport, and in doing so the book furnishes us with a play-by-play recount of each of his Tour victories from the ultimate insider's perspective. All the highlights are covered: his ominous exhaustion in the mountains of the 2000 Tour; the brilliant strategizing in 2001, when he feigned fatigue in order to give his opponents false confidence; the thrilling near-catastrophes of 2003, including an emergency 50 mph detour through a field and over a drainage ditch.

The complex and, to American minds, often baffling world of professional bicycle racing is presented in terms easily comprehensible to the non-specialist, but the sport is not given short shrift. In fact, some of the more arcane aspects of cycling are illustrated more clearly here than they have been almost anywhere else. The distinctly European flair of the sport, for example, is a constant obstacle for Armstrong, and he casts a bright and critical light on it here. Rather than succumb to the cycling world's pro-European bias as other American cyclists (such as the 1986 Tour winner, Greg Lemond) have done, Armstrong pushes against it with justifiable American bravado. After Armstrong's 1999 win, the French press and legal system, unable to admit that an American could be so dominant in a European sport (no Frenchman had been successful in the national pastime in a decade and a half), accused Armstrong of benefiting from the use of illegal steroids and launched an investigation. The inquiry lasted for years, despite a complete lack of evidence against Armstrong (indeed, the only confirmed drug users turned up were Europeans), and Armstrong is understandably bitter toward the vindictive French press and judicial system. He has been, however, able to carve a niche for himself as a definitively American competitor in a European sport. His work ethic has, indeed, set him apart from his more lackadaisical European counterparts, and he hints that his American ambition has given him a pronounced advantage. He implies that Jan Ullrich's decision to sleep in rather than inspect the racecourse before a pivotal stage resulted in the crash that lost the 2003 Tour for Ullrich and guaranteed Armstrong the victory.

Cancer is not relegated to the background of Every Second Counts. The title is a reference not only to the time pressures of bicycle racing but also to the cancer survivor's nagging certainty that each moment of post-illness life is a gift that must be filled to capacity. Devotion to cycling is one of the things that Armstrong uses to fill the seconds of his life, to make him feel as if he is making appropriate use of the opportunity he has been given. However, cycling isn't the only thing that has become a means of fulfillment; his children are central, as are some more mundane pleasures, like jumping from a cliff into a pond on his Texas ranch. Perhaps surprisingly, cancer itself has become the principal definition of Armstrong's healthy life, and his dedication to other cancer patients and survivors is truly what makes his story compelling.