Cycling is a sport blessed with literary masterpieces and whether it be autobiographies, biographies, novels or photobooks, there’s no shortage of quality on the shelves.
With Christmas approaching and online marketplaces suggesting you place your Christmas orders shortly, we thought it timely to compile a list of the best reads we’ve come across.
We could have easily put 50 books in here so this is by no means an exhaustive list.
But here’s 10 we think you should definitely have read by now or get to quick.
The Secret Race, by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle, 2012
The 2012 William Hill Sportsbook of the Year is Tyler Hamilton’s account of life as a professional cyclist while with the US Postal Services Team, alongside disgraced Texan Lance Armstrong.
The book details the inner workings of the team and outlines just what lengths they – Tyler included, were willing to go to win the Tour de France.
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Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France, by Jeremy Whittle, 2008
As the former editor of the Procycling magazine, Jeremy Whittle knew more than most about the doping practices that existed within professional cycling.
This book is his personal account of the toll drug-taking has taken on the sport but also a revelation of how unwilling his peers were to raise the blinkers while corruption from those in power within cycling are also exposed.
Land of Second Chances: The impossible rise of Rwanda’s cycling team, by Tim Lewis, 2013
An inspiring read about a former professional cyclist from the US rocking up in Rwanda with a vision of creating the continent’s first pro team.
It's an against-all-odds tale of how supreme talents like Adrien Niyonshuti put his country's - as well as his own personal horrors behind him to make it to the Olympic Games.
Domestique: The real-life ups and downs of a Tour pro, by Charly Wegelius
This is the story of how Finnish-born British rider Charly Wegelius fulfilled his dream of becoming a professional cyclist in all it’s painful glory.
It’s the story of a life as a domestique in a professional team. He rarely won a race, pushed himself to the point of self-destruction and realised he simply was not good enough to continue his career within the peloton.
He recalls those days of being utterly shattered physically and mentally as well as trying to build a life for himself after he hung up his wheels.
Racing Through the Dark: The fall and rise of David Millar, by David Millar, 2012
Millar took the maillot jaune in the Tour de France in Futuroscope in 2000 but was juiced when he did.
The moment he recalls standing on that podium, clad in yellow, is one of the more poignant moments in the book.
The emptiness and invalidity of it all was not what he had dreamt of.
He was subsequently caught and banned from the sport, only to return to lead campaigns for clean cycling.
The former doper has since penned another book but his first one was a quality read.
Lance Armstrong, Tour de Force, by Daniel Coyle, 2006
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American author Dan Coyle was given access (definitely not exclusive) to the US Postal Services team for the 2004 season where Armstrong was aiming to win his sixth consecutive Tour de France.
Coyle followed his subject everywhere and wrote a brilliant account of what life was like inside the Texan’s regime.
It’s unbelievably biased so it definitely won’t be to everyone’s liking, but still worth a read nonetheless.
Just as well it was revised and updated....
Rough Ride, by Paul Kimmage, 1990
The book that lifted the lid on the performance enhancing drug culture that invaded the sport.
Kimmage always wanted to be a pro cyclist but as soon as he was, he discovered it was not what he’d expected.
Instead of glory it was about and utter exhaustion and drugs, drugs he wasn’t willing to take and because of that, it left him aloof amongst his peers.
This is a powerful and frank account that broke the code of silence surrounding the issue of drugs in sport.
Slaying the Badger, Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and the greatest Tour de France ever, by Richard Moore, 2012
The 80s were a golden era for cycling with so many stars but few shone brighter – and polarized opinion, than LeMond and Hinault.
Best of enemies and best of friends, they were teammates at La Vie Claire, but it didn’t look like that on the road.
The pair were leagues ahead of the rest during the 1986 Tour and their tete-a-tete for three weeks in July is one every cycling fan should know about.
The Rider, Tim Krabbe, 2002
If you know nothing about cycling, this is your book. If you’ve ever dreamt of being a professional, this is your book. If you love quality quotes this is definitely your book.
Here are two examples;
“He is only showing us that he doesn’t stand a chance in hell. He knows it too, but still it’s a fact: he has to choose between finishing at the back after shining, or finishing at the back after not having shone at all.”
And,
“Road racing imitates life, the way it would be without the corruptive influence of civilization. When you see an enemy lying on the ground, what’s your first reaction? To help him to his feet. I road racing, you kick him to death.”
Krabbe is a far better writer than he ever was a rider.
Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike, by William Fotheringham, 2013
Merckx was the best that ever was and ever will be. He won time-trials. He won sprints. He won mountain stages. He won by minutes and he won by miles.
He changed the standards by which cycling is judged, setting the bar impossibly high.
Fotheringham is one of the best at his job and he gives an extremely detailed account of the whole career and life of cycling legend Eddy Merckx.
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