One of Ireland's most successful cyclists, Dan Martin is joining the growing number of current and former pro riders to document their careers in autobiographies. His new book - Chased by Pandas: My life in the mysterious world of cycling - will be out in mid October, with his publishers having just released the cover and some details of what's planned.
Martin (35) retired at the end of last year having enjoyed a long and successful career that included victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Il Lombardia, two stages in the Tour de France, two in La Vuelta and one in the Giro; the latter coming last year and one of the best feats of athleticism we've ever seen from any Irish athlete.
But aside from the success, Martin's career is interesting in that it spans a period of 15 years, from 2007 to the end of last year. It covers the time from the end of the Lance Armstrong era to the arrival of the all-out new cycling of recent seasons embodied by riders like Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogačar and others.
Advertisement
Martin was arguably one of a lucky generation in that he began to hit his stride in the pro ranks just as the sport finally began to get serious about clamping down on doping. And though those drug-taking problems persist, his career coincided with what is widely regarded as a much cleaner time than what had gone before.
Related News
He also had a front row seat to the technological and coaching changes within the sport, with the preparation and planning undertaken by teams now radically different to when he started out. He certainly rode in interesting times.
Being released by British publishers Quercus, and written with French journalist, Pierre Carrey, Martin says the book "delivers an immersive journey through the life of a cyclist providing true insight into the mindset that it takes to succeed at the top of one of the most demanding sports in the world”.
In its pre-publication publicity, Quercus says: "Each chapter’s title has a sub-title based on a typical cyclist’s fear: the fear of losing a race, the fear of retiring from the sport, the fear of mountains or downhills, the fear of doping and, ultimately, the fear of death.
"Dan also discusses every aspect of the professional cyclist’s life—food, discipline, money, dreams, friendship and betrayal. Dan is unashamed when it comes to exposing these dark feelings, his weaknesses and how he tried to deal with them, his attitude exemplifying Mark Twain’s quote, ‘Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear’.”
