Best books on pro racing?

I 'd read

Tim Moore Geronimo

Charlie Wegelius The Domestique

David Millar Racing Through the Dark

in that order

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)

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.

It's ages since I read it but I remember thinking the same thing. Must dig it out.
Can't say I remember Geraint's so fondly.

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.

"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?

DeadCalm wrote:

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.

"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?

Outstanding book.

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.

Phil Gaimon?

Gaimon!!

DeadCalm wrote:

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.

"Roule Britannia" by William Fotheringham?

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.

"Pour l'amour de Jacques" - but you'll need a org-chart to understand who is related to whom.

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 filter

onyourright said:

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.

Ordered on this recommendation.

Having read the first chapter on Amazon, I can confirm there is one major fact in there that conveniently hasn't been reported.

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.

Do you have anything to add to that?