Best books on pro racing?
I'm a bit of a casual cycling fan, mostly watching the big tours on TV, but would like to learn more about the game. The training, tactics, doping, bitchiness etc
I did read a book years ago but was Lance so might not have been the most truthful insight as it turns out!
What books would you recommend?
I did read a book years ago but was Lance so might not have been the most truthful insight as it turns out!
What books would you recommend?
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The Rider by Tim Krabbe - it's about an amateur race but it is the best book about cycling I have read by far.
Wide Eyed and Legless (about the 1987 ANC Halfords Tour team), very interesting
Millar's book The Racer is quite good, very self indulgent but it does give you an insight into racing (accepting that it is through Millar's heavily filtered vision).
Not just about cycling, but The Sports Gene is a great read.0 -
I 'd read
Tim Moore Geronimo
Charlie Wegelius The Domestique
David Millar Racing Through the Dark
in that order0 -
/\ Yeah The Domestique is a good read0
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SpecialGuestStar wrote:I 'd read
Tim Moore Geronimo
Charlie Wegelius The Domestique
David Millar Racing Through the Dark
in that order
Can't disagree with this. Would add Tim Moore's other book about cycling, French Revolutions.
Etape by Richard Moore is very good for history of the TDF (which if you're a casual fan may be right up your street)0 -
A Pieper's Tale by Allan Pieper is one I've read a few times (must try it again). I've read man many biogs of pros over the past 25+ years and this beats pretty much all of the others.0
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It's ages since I read it but I remember thinking the same thing. Must dig it out.andyrr wrote:A Pieper's Tale by Allan Pieper is one I've read a few times (must try it again). I've read man many biogs of pros over the past 25+ years and this beats pretty much all of the others.
Can't say I remember Geraint's so fondly.0 -
I would read the Tom Simpson biography by Fotheringham
Maybe try "We Were Young and Carefree" Fignon autobiography
"The Escape Artist" by Matt Seaton gives a bit of an insight into the amateur cyclist whilst being about more than just cycling.
Then there is one about a group of Brits who went over to become pros in the 1950s which is good .
There are plenty of good ones though and some I've seen recommended that for me were a little too dry but each to their own.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?DeVlaeminck wrote:I would read the Tom Simpson biography by Fotheringham
Maybe try "We Were Young and Carefree" Fignon autobiography
"The Escape Artist" by Matt Seaton gives a bit of an insight into the amateur cyclist whilst being about more than just cycling.
Then there is one about a group of Brits who went over to become pros in the 1950s which is good .
There are plenty of good ones though and some I've seen recommended that for me were a little too dry but each to their own.0 -
+1 for The Escape Artist. A lovely book.
There is another one whose title escapes me, a recent book by an American pro who was just good enough to get a World tour ride for a couple of seasons. An interesting account not often told.0 -
DeadCalm wrote:
"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?DeVlaeminck wrote:I would read the Tom Simpson biography by Fotheringham
Maybe try "We Were Young and Carefree" Fignon autobiography
"The Escape Artist" by Matt Seaton gives a bit of an insight into the amateur cyclist whilst being about more than just cycling.
Then there is one about a group of Brits who went over to become pros in the 1950s which is good .
There are plenty of good ones though and some I've seen recommended that for me were a little too dry but each to their own.
Outstanding book.It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.0 -
Yep. I enjoyed it. Also, the Fignon one is good.Salsiccia1 wrote:DeadCalm wrote:
"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?DeVlaeminck wrote:I would read the Tom Simpson biography by Fotheringham
Maybe try "We Were Young and Carefree" Fignon autobiography
"The Escape Artist" by Matt Seaton gives a bit of an insight into the amateur cyclist whilst being about more than just cycling.
Then there is one about a group of Brits who went over to become pros in the 1950s which is good .
There are plenty of good ones though and some I've seen recommended that for me were a little too dry but each to their own.
Outstanding book.
I must try and get hold of the Simpson one.0 -
paulwood wrote:+1 for The Escape Artist. A lovely book.
There is another one whose title escapes me, a recent book by an American pro who was just good enough to get a World tour ride for a couple of seasons. An interesting account not often told.
Isnt that the Cookie guy, something like Phil Deignan but obvs not.
The critics choice is the Herbie Sykes book about the Peace Race.We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Would add Tim Moore's other book about cycling, French Revolutions.
That book is hilarious. Whenever I'm having a dark moment on a climb I think of this book and tell myself that I've been cycling a lot longer than Tim, I don't have panniers and I haven't had 50cl of wine for lunch.
Oh and I have clean shorts.Correlation is not causation.0 -
DeadCalm wrote:
"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?DeVlaeminck wrote:I would read the Tom Simpson biography by Fotheringham
Maybe try "We Were Young and Carefree" Fignon autobiography
"The Escape Artist" by Matt Seaton gives a bit of an insight into the amateur cyclist whilst being about more than just cycling.
Then there is one about a group of Brits who went over to become pros in the 1950s which is good .
There are plenty of good ones though and some I've seen recommended that for me were a little too dry but each to their own.
Sounds more like In Pursuit of Stardom - Les Normades du Velo Anglais, Tony Hewson's memoire of trying to break into the continental peleton in the sport's "golden age" at the end of the 50's, which left me wanting more. Jean Bobet's Tomorrow we Ride is a moving account of Jean and his brother's life in the sport in the same era. Bobet's description of their "float" training ride through the rain the evening before Louison won his World title is beautiful.
Jean Bobet has had a remarkable life, having studied English at Aberdeen University, which I guess would be pretty unusual for a self-styled Breton "plouc" (closest translation is bumpkin) today, let alone just after the war, before joining his brother in the pro peleton.
Paul Fournel's book about Anquetil is worth reading (Jean Bobet regards Anquetil as a cheat), but doesn't get close to Need for the Bike in capturing the emotional truth of the sport (though Fournel isn't a racer, and Need for the Bikd isn't about racing).
Phil Gaimon's books and Joe Parkin's Dog in a Hat seem realistic accounts of the exceptional athletic ability needed to get into the pro ranks and the grim reality of life when you get there.
Hewson, Bobet, Fournel, Gaimon and Parkin all have an authentic voice, rather than being filtered or ghost written.0 -
Thanks guys. I'll check into these.0
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"Pour l'amour de Jacques" - but you'll need a org-chart to understand who is related to whom.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
mm1 wrote:Sounds more like In Pursuit of Stardom - Les Normades du Velo Anglais, Tony Hewson's memoire of trying to break into the continental peloton in the sport's "golden age" at the end of the 50's, which left me wanting more.
Yes that is the book I was referring to[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
Sorry to be an archaeologist and bring back an old thread. But I've recently read Kenny Pryde's The Medal Factory which covers British Cycling from Peter Keen to now. It's really rather good. The criticisms I would hold against it are over exaggerating the impact of the revelations of 2016-17 (and the book leads with that) and attributing evils to social media that mainstream media were also guilty of.
On the plus side it gives the flip side of the mainstream media accounts of those times. Stuff about Pendleton & Varnish that Blazing has alluded to, A negative assessment of the Cooke family and a generally reasonable assessment of what pro sport actually is.
Other highlights include a story about a rider losing a medal in a brothel and the assessement of Froome as the most mentally tough person anyone has met "He's a busted*. Cold and ruthless" (said admiringly)
*Swear filterTwitter: @RichN950 -
Ordered on this recommendation.RichN95. said:But I've recently read Kenny Pryde's The Medal Factory which covers British Cycling from Peter Keen to now. It's really rather good.
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Having read the first chapter on Amazon, I can confirm there is one major fact in there that conveniently hasn't been reported.onyourright said:
Ordered on this recommendation.RichN95. said:But I've recently read Kenny Pryde's The Medal Factory which covers British Cycling from Peter Keen to now. It's really rather good.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Not a book but a film - Le Ride, a 90 min film about the 1928 Tour de France, free on Amazon Prime. First English speaking participants - 1 Kiwi and 3 Australians.
Not earth shaking but enjoyable enough. Using rollers on the boat over from Australia!
Also an insane route.1 -
Do you have anything to add to that?blazing_saddles said:Having read the first chapter on Amazon, I can confirm there is one major fact in there that conveniently hasn't been reported.
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