Emma OReilly - The Race to Truth: Blowing the whistle on Lance Armstrong and cyclings doping culture

Contents

The Secret Race
Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sports story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong.

The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven and some flawed characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.

WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012

Astonishingly candid... an extraordinary confessional
The Times

The book that finally broke Lance Armstrong
Sport magazine

Ebook available now

Climbs and Punishment
Felix Lowe

After almost a decade of reporting on the exploits of the pro peloton, raconteur Felix Lowe takes to the saddle and sets out to conquer the road from Barcelona to Rome.

Powered by local delicacies, painkillers and imaginary fans, Lowe pedals his way through three countries and over three mountain ranges, taking in some of the sports most fabled climbs. Following in the tracks of the worlds greatest wheelmen, he puts professional cycling's three major stage races the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espaa and Giro dItalia under the microscope, whilst capturing the potent mix of madness, humour and human spirit that fuels stage winners and pedal spinners alike.

Tracing the footsteps of the celebrated Carthaginian general Hannibal, who led his own pachyderm peloton of thirty-seven elephants over the Alps and all the way to the gates of Rome, Lowes epic quest pays homage to the sport, examines the psychology of both the crazed amateur and the pedalling pro, and delves into the awesome march of a military genius who almost brought the Roman Empire to its knees.

THE ENTERTAINING STORY OF A CYCLING FANS JOURNEY FROM BIKE WRITER TO BIKE RIDER

Lowe keeps up a flow of good-humoured chat and at the end he is a changed man an aching but ardent pelotonist
The Times

Ebook available now

The Man Who Cycled the Americas
Mark Beaumont

In 2008, Mark Beaumont smashed the world record for cycling around the world, by an astonishing 81 days. His race against the clock took him through the toughest terrain and the most demanding of conditions. In 2009, Mark set out on his second ultra-endurance challenge. And this one would involve some very big mountains.

The Man Who Cycled the Americas tells the story of a 15,000 mile expedition that once again broke the barriers of human achievement. To pedal the longest mountain range on the planet, solo and unsupported, presented its own unique difficulties. But no man had ever previously summited the continents' two highest peaks, Mt McKinley in Alaska and Aconcagua in Argentina, in the same climbing season, let alone cycling between them. Oh, and Mark had never even been up Ben Nevis before.

Full of his trademark charm, warmth and fascination with seeing the world at the pace of a bicycle, Mark Beaumonts second book is a testament to his love of adventure, his joy of taking on tough mental and physical feats, and offers a thrilling trip through the diverse cultures of the Americas.

THE SECOND EPIC ADVENTURE BY THE AUTHOR OF THE MAN WHO CYCLED THE WORLD

Interesting, engaging, and truly knackering just reading about it
Cressida Connolly, London Cyclist

Ebook available now

The Man Who Cycled the World
Mark Beaumont

On 15 February 2008, Mark Beaumont pedalled through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Just 194 days and 17 hours previously, he had begun his attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time. Mark smashed the Guinness World Record by an astonishing 81 days. He had travelled more than 18,000 miles on his own through some of the harshest conditions one man and his bicycle can endure, camping wild at night and suffering from constant ailments.

The Man Who Cycled the World is the story not just of that amazing achievement, but of the events that turned Mark Beaumont into the man he is today. From the early years of his free-spirited childhood in the Scottish countryside to present day, he has been equally determined not to settle for an average existence, but to break free and follow his dreams.

THE INSPIRING STORY OF A RECORD-BREAKING SOLO CYCLE JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD

The narrative is infused with human drama to keep the pages turning... impressive
Sunday Telegraph

One of modern cyclings genuine heroes
London Review of Books

Ebook available now

Easy Rider: My Life on a Bike
Rob Hayles

The son of a wrestler turned cycling coach called Killer Kowalski, Rob Hayles was soon winning races himself and realizing that he didnt really want to work for a living. The world of amateur club cycling in the 1990s was a long way from the millionaire sport of today though. When Rob first rode for Great Britain, it was with his own bike, one spare tyre, and a hand-me-down jersey.

Yet Rob became an integral part of the amazing success story of British cycling, and has been at the centre of the sport for the past two decades. With Bradley Wiggins, he was a member of the first GB team to become world champions at the team pursuit, the most demanding and thrilling discipline on the track. With teammate David Millar, he witnessed first-hand the drug-strewn, often demeaning life of the professional road cyclist. And as Mark Cavendishs training partner, Rob has been the experienced influence at the side of the fastest man on two wheels.

Easy Rider is an unforgettable journey through revolutionary times. Sharp, down-to-earth, packed with anecdotes and just plain fun, it takes you from the humblest of beginnings through a golden era in British cycling.

Rob Hayles is a cycling legend, pure and simple
Ned Boulting, author of How I Won the Yellow Jumper

Ebook available now

The Race Against Time
Edward Pickering

When Chris Boardman first raced against Graeme Obree, in a time trial in Newtonards, Northern Ireland, in 1990, it was the start of a rivalry that captivated the British public for a decade and brought cycling on to the front pages. Boardman was the establishment figure: reserved, scientific, middle-class. Obree was the rebel: the Flying Scotsman, working-class, riding a home-made bike. Both were after one thing to be the fastest man on two wheels.