Cycling's inexorable rise in popularity continued 2014 when more than three million people lined the streets to watch the Tour de France enjoy three stages in Yorkshire and from Cambridge to London. Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome became in 2012 and 2013, respectively, the first two British riders to win the Tour, this following the incredible success of Team GBs riders in London 2012 Olympic Games, catapulting Sir Chris Hoy, Wiggins and several track stars into the limelight.
In grand tours, Team Sky dominate the scene - and a million mamils (middle aged men in lycra) can be seen on the country lanes of Britain and Europe every Sunday morning. This book is unashamedly written with love for the mamil.
The mamil dreams of the romance of the great pro races such as Paris-Roubaix plus weekends away in Italy and up Mont Ventoux in France, not to mention the home-grown routes in Wales and Scotland. He wants to walk back into work on Monday morning, cycling shoes click-clacking across the floor and announce with a flourish: "This time yesterday morning, I was half-way up Alpe d'Huez."
Taking in 12 cycling challenges, one a month for a year, across Britain and northern and southern Europe, this beautiful book chronicles the experiences of two mamils and looks at what it takes to tackle some of the most iconic events in cycling.
With breathtaking photography and lively text that conveys exactly how it feels to be by turns frozen, baked, lost, exhausted but utterly exhilarated and inspired this is a book that will resonate with any aspiring road rat.
