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Book Reviews
The last few years have seen the publication of some excellent cycling books. For those moments you can't spend riding a bike, here are our reviews of some of the best recent reading, including some absolute must-haves - and we've done the hard work of finding where to buy them for you too!
Velo 2004
By Paul De Keyser and Harry Van den Bremt
Reviewed by Jeff Jones
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Like most sports, cycling is well endowed with its share of facts and figures. From a rider's time in a road race, to how many races they've won, to how fast they can do a kilometre on the track - it's all a numbers game. Of course it's not actually necessary to have a mathematical bent to appreciate most forms of cycling, but there are plenty of people who are fascinated by the statistics of the sport. The Velo series of books, compiled by Belgian journalists Paul de Keyser and Harry Van den Bremt, are just the thing for these aficionados.
The Velo books come out at the end of each season, and are crammed full of statistics from the previous season, and in many cases even further historical detail. Cyclingnews reviewed a copy of Velo 2004, a solid 640-page almanac that is based on the 2003 season. Although we're used to dealing with large volumes of results on our site on a daily basis, it is still quite impressive to see everything bundled together in a book such as this one.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
Put me back on my bike - In search of Tom Simpson
By William Fotheringham
Reviewed by John Stevenson
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The manner of his subject's death hangs like a pall over William Fotheringham's superb biography of brilliant but ill-starred British cyclist Tom Simpson, which has just become available in paperback. Simpson died of heat stroke and cardiac failure on the slopes of Mount Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. He had amphetamine in his bloodstream and was reported by team-mates to have drunk brandy before the mountain to try and ease stomach pain. Over the course of this biography - which has elements of documentary as Fotheringham uncovers and develops a deep affection for a man who died while the writer was, as he puts it, "still in nappies" - it becomes clear that it's far too simplistic to blame Simpson's death on drugs, though they were undoubtedly a factor.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
Lance Armstrong - Every Second Counts
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After his closest ever Tour De France win last July, the title of Lance Armstrong's second book was prophetic, even if the title was chosen months before the '03 Tour even started. In the first chapter of Lance Armstrong's new book Every Second Counts, the five time Tour De France talks about his trips to Dead Man's Hole, a swimming hole sunk deep in the rocks of Armstrong's beloved Texas Hill Country.
Leaping 40 feet down into Dead Man's Hole, his own "personal way for checking for vital signs" is just one step Lance takes on his further voyage of self discovery that is woven into Every Second Counts.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program
Seven weeks to the perfect ride
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Written by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael, along with Peter Joffre Nye, the Lance The Lance Armstrong Performance Program outlines the exercises, riding schedules and mental tricks that helped Lance win the Tour de France.
Over 240 pages you can see how any rider can apply the principles outlined by Carmichael to their own training regime. The seven-week success formula, designed by Carmichael specifically for Lance, will allow riders of every experience level to achieve their peak performance.
To order this book
Cyclingnews and Amazon have joined to bring this book to the rest of the world. If you live in Europe, just follow this link. Amazon in the UK can only ship to European countries.
For North America and the rest of the world, follow this link
The Ultimate Ride
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Famous as being coach to Lance Armstrong, Chris Carmichael also runs Carmichael Training Systems. In The Ultimate Ride, Carmichael gives his invaluable training tips that will allow riders of all levels to achieve their best.
Complete with illustrations and photographs, The Ultimate Ride outlines the nutritional advice, goal-setting methods and mental exercises that will compliment the physical training that Carmichael Training Systems is known for.
To order this book
Cyclingnews and Amazon have joined to bring this book to the rest of the world. If you live in Europe, just follow this link. Amazon in the UK can only ship to European countries.
For North America and the rest of the world, follow this link
Bike Racing 101
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If you want to learn to race bikes, then Bike Racing 101 is the book to read. Everything from preparing for your first race to the racing skills, strategy and tactics that is needed to defeat the compitition is outlined in this book.
Kendra and René Wenzel outline the essential information that a rider needs to enter the world of competitive cycling. Road racing, time trials, criteriums and stage races are all covered, along with the warm-ups and recovery needed to perform at your best.
To order this book
Cyclingnews and Amazon have joined to bring this book to the rest of the world. If you live in Europe, just follow this link. Amazon in the UK can only ship to European countries.
For North America and the rest of the world, follow this link
A Century of Cycling - by Will Fotheringham
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Cycling journalist and enthusiest Will Fotheringham covers over 100 years of the drama, beauty and challenges of the great races of Europe.
Everything from the one-day classics to the Tour de France is covered, all illustrated with fine photography.
To order this book
Cyclingnews and Amazon have joined to bring this book to the rest of the world. If you live in Europe, just follow this link. Amazon in the UK can only ship to European countries.
For North America and the rest of the world, follow this link
Price: US$17.47, £13.52 - 175 pages
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Downhill: The Life Story Of A Gravity Goddess by Marla Streb
Marla Streb left a promising career as a biomedical researcher behind to start a career as a downhill mountainbiker.
Almost ten years later she has written a book detailing the ups and downs of her life; from her training as a classical pianist to the loss of her brother Mark.
To order this book
Cyclingnews and Amazon have joined to bring this book to the rest of the world. If you live in Europe, just follow this link. Amazon in the UK can only ship to European countries.
For North America and the rest of the world, follow this link
Price: US$14 from bookshops, US$11.20 & £7.42 from Amazon - 288 pages
Le Tour - A century of the Tour de France by Jeremy Whittle
Reviewed by John Stevenson
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The first thing that strikes you when you flip through the early pages of this collection of Tour de France photographs selected by procycling editor Jeremy Whittle is how constantly filthy the riders were in the early Tours. Modern-day Tour riders undoubtedly suffer in the elements, but at least they're not riding on unsealed roads that turn to dustbowls in good weather and mudbaths in bad. Everything conspired to make things as hard as possible for those early Tour heroes: the organisers, setting insane stage distances and stringently-enforced rules against technical support; the fans, obstructing and even assaulting less favoured riders; the roads, poorly-surfaced and hideously steep, and the elements, baking one day, sodden the next.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
Phil O'Connor's 21 years of cycling photography
Reviewed by John Stevenson
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For thousands of British cycling fans, Phil O'Connor is their eyes at the races. O'Connnor's 22-year career has taken him to countless races in Europe, across the pond to the US and all the way round the world to Australia. This book contains O'Connor's best and favourite work, gathered together for the first time.
Your average working sports shooter has no problem catching the speed and dynamism of bike racing, but O'Connor's talent - and it really shines through the 144 pages of this book - is in capturing expressions. Open up almost any page and you're struck by the sheer variety of emotion bike racers undergo, from Florian Rousseau's ecstasy after his Olympic keirin win in Sydney to the demoralized agony of two riders from British team ANC-Halfords climbing Alpe d'Huez in the 1987 Tour de France.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
L'Equipe three-volume Tour de France history book set
Reviewed by Gerard Knapp
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L'Equipe's three-volume set defies comparison.
This is without doubt the Eddy Merckx of Tour de France retrospectives that have been released to coincide with the race's centenary.
With its unparalleled access to race archives, L'Equipe has published a stunning three-volume retrospective of 100 years of the Tour de France. Given the race is owned by the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), publisher of L'Equipe, this retrospective is unrivalled among all of the '100 years of the TdF' books that have been released.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
L'Equipe's three-volume TdF distilled into English
Reviewed by Gerard Knapp
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The impressive and massive three-part retrospective of the Tour de France, published by L'Equipe, has also been made available in English.
Known as 'L'Equipe's international edition - The Official Tour de France Centennial 1903-2003', it is a smaller version of the original three volumes, but still runs to 360 pages, 120,000 words and over 600 images.
The original French version runs to 780 pages and is split over three volumes but it is only available in French. As we suggested in the earlier review, it does present the keen cyclist with a very good reason to learn the host country's language, but for those who prefer English, we can also recommend the English version.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France
Reviewed by John Stevenson
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Les Woodland's 'Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France' is part dictionary, part handbook, part history and wholly a labour of love. Woodland is a hugely experienced British cycling journalist who now lives in France, and whether he's tackling the contentious subject of doping, or telling the story of a now almost-forgotten Tour hero, Woodland's deep love of the sport comes through.
But this isn't a gushing hymn of praise to le Tour. Many of the Tour's protagonists over the years have had their flaws, and Woodland isn't shy about identifying them, which makes randomly dipping into the book's almost 400 pages of facts and trivia hugely entertaining.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, OUI, OUI, OUI!
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In Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, OUI, OUI, OUI! Australian cycling journalist Rupert Guinness tells the story of the Tour de France through the eyes of one of its most unlikely groups of riders, the men who trekked halfway round the world from Australia to race the roads of France. From Don Kirkham and Snowy Monroe in 1914 to the trio of Cooke, McEwen and O'Grady that dominates this year's points contest, Australians have made a mark on the Tour way beyond expectations of a country of just 19 million many thousands of kilometres from France.
Guinness uses the adventures, struggles and successes of the Australians to tell parts of the broader story of the Tour, as in this edited extract which looks at determined mid-seventies domestique Don Allan who rode two Tours before returning to the track
For an extract of the book and to order, click here
Breaking the Chain, Drugs and Cycling - The True Story by Willy Voet
by Gerard Knapp
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Cyclingnews has obtained online rights to publish extracts from the recently-released English language translation of "Breaking the Chain", Willy Voet's explosive book about drugs and cheating in cycling. The book was written as a result of the well-documented "Festina affair", which rocked the 1998 Tour de France and continues to reverberate through cycling and sport as a whole.
The book was released in French under the title 'Massacre a la chaine' (Chain Massacre) and became a best-seller in France and Belgium. The extracts we have chosen are by no means the most explosive chapters - the Festina Affair, the infamous "tube up the bum" and "Belgian pot" sections have already been covered in previous stories on Cyclingnews. Rather, in these extracts Voet describes his experiences in the '70s and '80s, from cheating on climbs to using amphetamines. It helps reveal one important point: doping with Festina was not an isolated incident. In fact, the only unique thing about the Festina Affair is that someone from team management was actually caught with a serious stash of drugs. The same thing could have happened 10, 20 or even 30 years earlier - the only difference being the kind of drugs that were administered.
To read extracts from Breaking the Chain, or to purchase a copy, click here and here.
Team On The Run - The Inside Story of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team
By Brian Palmer
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Books dealing with the world of cycling and cycle racing are often aimed at "serious" cycle fans, in that those with limited or no interest in cycling matters, would be fairly unlikely to rush out and buy them.
This book, however, is different. We'll come to its author's background in a moment, but I have to recommend this book to absolutely anybody, whether you are the least bit interested in cycling or not. It is a genuinely enjoyable read and gained me several strange looks from the dog when I began laughing out loud on more than one occasion.
For a full review and to order this book, click here.
