Using this Kindle Paperwhite has proved to be a much more effective and critical way of reading books than my previous traditional method. It's been excellent for uncovering points I'd previously failed to observe and to made it easy to go back to them to cross-check previous passages.

Re-reading Lance Armstrong's two books "It's Not About The Bike" and "Every Second Counts" I've noticed several "inconsistencies" which people might find of interest. The first of these, in "Every Second Counts" is more amusing than anything and refers to the ascent of Mt Ventoux, here is the passage:

"Ventoux was the hardest climb of that year’s Tour, or any other: just 14 miles from the finish line we’d be at barely 900 feet above sea level, but by the end we’d be at 16,000 feet". Read more at location 653.

16,000 feet! Mt Ventoux is 1912m high, that's 6,272 feet, I'm sure this was a simple error rather than an exaggeration!

However, there are two very different accounts of the encounter between Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong on Mount Ventoux in the two books.

In "It's Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life" by Lance Armstrong this is what Lance Armstrong claims to have said to Marco Pantani:

As I joined him, I said to him, "Vitesse, vitesse!" meaning to encourage him. But he thought I was trying to provoke him. Read more at location 4322. Lance Armstrong also claims in this book to have decided not to contest the stage finish "as the finish line came into view".

In "Every Second Counts" by Lance Armstrong this is what Lance Armstrong claims to have said to Marco Pantani:

As I did (joined him), I turned and spoke to him. "Vince!" I said, in my poor Italian. Meaning, "Come on, come with me." I meant to urge him on, to invite him to ride with me, because I intended to help him to the finish line as the stage winner. Read more at location 665. Lance Armstrong claims in this book to have said this "with roughly three miles to go" - very different from the previous statement about deciding not to contest the stage as the finish line came into view.

But Pantani misinterpreted me. He thought I said, "Vitesse," meaning, "hurry up." It was a matter of interpretation: "vitesse" was an insult, as if I was telling him he was riding too slowly, and to get out of my way. He thought I was antagonizing him. Read more at location 678

Hmm... "vitesse" was an insult but that's what you claimed to actually say, twice, in your first book!

I guess we will never know what was actually said but these are startlingly different records, from Lance Armstrong, about what was said and when the decision to "gift" the stage was made. One can't help but wonder whether the version in the second book (Every Second Counts) was manipulated to better suit the impression he wanted to give. One thing I do know, if this kind of alteration of the facts happened in a murder trial the police and the lawyers would have a field day!