In his books about cycling, cancer, fame and family and how they have intertwined to make him who he is, Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, delves into fine detail about the roles his top teammates played on his champion teams.

He talks about how those riders became as close as family and how George Hincapie, his road captain and longtime lieutenant, grew to know him the best.

“There have been times when I’ve practically lived out of the same suitcase with George Hincapie,” Armstrong said in “Every Second Counts.” “In cycling, we’re on the side of a mountain for weeks, in small hotel rooms, sharing every ache, and pain, and meal. You get to know everything about each other, including things you’d rather not.”

Those things he and Hincapie learned about each other are now at the center of yet another doping scandal involving Armstrong’s Tour-winning teams.