Whether you’re looking for an insight into winning the world’s biggest races, a peek behind the curtain of the sport’s darkest era, or a guide to your next epic adventure, picking up a book is the perfect way to get your cycling fix over the barren winter period. Many won’t even have you breaking sweat.
Most of my early cycling education came from books. You’re transported to the legendary mountain battles, taken inside team buses and training camps. While I quickly fell in love with cycling after buying my first road bike, it was reading about the sport that made it take over my life.
I’m now in the slightly unusual situation in which my friendship group crosses over with some of the people that I used to read about. But while reading these books I was reminded about why I first fell in love with the sport. The heroes, the villains and those in the middle who I don’t know what to think about. Cycling is a beautiful sport, and one that has been on a wild journey over the past 20 years.
GOD IS DEAD: THE RISE AND FALL OF FRANK VANDENBROUCKE
Author: Andy McGrath
Publisher: Bantam Press
£20
I didn’t know much about Frank Vandenbroucke before reading this book; he was just another name from cycling’s cursed years. After reading this, my perspective has changed, not just on Vandenbroucke but the sport as a whole.
Perhaps the most tragic story in modern-day cycling, Andy McGrath’s gives a
