Rule #6: Free your mind and your legs will follow.THE VELOMINATI embrace cycling not as a pastime, but as a way of life, as obsessed with style, heritage, authenticity and wisdom as with performance.Rule #9: If you cycle in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.THE RULES is their Bible. It is an essential part of every cyclist's arsenal - whether you're grudgingly cycling to work in the rain or gearing up to be the next Bra...

It's time we all stopped whining and learned a thing or two from The Toughest Cyclists Ever. Including:Stephen Roche, whose cure for exhaustion was to go up a gear and fight harder, all the way to the ambulance. Eddy Merckx, who hurt himself so badly in breaking the Hour record that, he estimated, he shortened his career by a year. Beryl Burton, who crushed her (male) rival's morale with the offer of a piece of liquorice, before speeding past to victory. Nicole Cooke and E...

Bernard Hinault is one of the greatest cyclists of all time. He is a five-time winner of the Tour de France and the only man to have won each of the Grand Tours on more than one occasion.Hinault is the last ‘old-school’ champion: a larger-than-life character from a working-class background, capable of winning on all terrains, in major Tours and one-day Classics. Nicknamed the ‘Badger’ for his combative style, he led a cyclists’ strike in his first Tour and instigat...

Push until it hurts, then push some moreEven by the standards of a sport that requires enormous stamina and capacity for suffering, Jens Voigt is in a class on his own. Beloved by cycling fans for his madcap one-man breakaways as much as his sense of humour and quotable catchphrases, Jens is one of the most popular personalities in cycling.Jens was born near Hamburg, and came up through the East German system before the Wall came down. He got into the natio...

Few British schoolchildren of the seventies can have been as obsessed with the Tour de France as William Fotheringham, who smuggled copies of Miroir du Cyclisme into lessons to read inside his books. He saw the Tour for the first time in 1984, avidly following that year's race on television in the Normandy village where he lived.Since joining the Guardian in 1989, William Fotheringham has been at the forefront of British cycling journalism. Here he reflects on the...

'Beautiful, an instant classic, a poignant voyage through Barry's love for cycling and the turmoil he lived through because of it.' DAVID MILLARIn Shadows on the Road, Michael Barry explores the dreams and passions of cycling in this moving and controversial account of life at the heart of the Peloton, from the one day classics to the Tour de France, from US Postal to Team Sky.In 2012, veteran cyclist Michael Barry announced his re...

SHORTLISTED FOR CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS'Paris-Roubaix is the best race in the world and knocks spots off the Tour de France.' Sir Bradley Wiggins.Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North. The ultimate monument in cycling's Classics. More than 150 miles across dusty or muddy roads, much of it puncture-inducing and bone-breaking cobblestones. Even professional riders blanche at the very mention of it. Tour de France winners (with the notable exc...

The hottest sprinter in the world - TelegraphMark Cavendish is the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France's green jersey, the first to wear the iconic rainbow jersey in almost 50 years and our only ever rider to capture the Giro d'Italia points title. He is the most prolific sprinter in the Tour's history, and - according to L'Equipe - the best sprinter of all time. But smashing records and racking up victories means whole new levels of fame: and ...

With a new Afterword.Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tour de France yellow jerseys after staring down cancer, and in the process became an international symbol of resilience and courage. In a sport constantly dogged by blood doping scandals, Armstrong seemed above the fray. Never had cycling - or any sport-boasted such a charismatic and accomplished champion.Then, in the summer of 2012, the legend imploded. The rumors that had long dogged Armstr...

For 11 years I was a professional cyclist, competing in the hardest and greatest races on Earth. I was in demand from the world's best teams, a well-paid elite athlete. But I never won a race. I was the hired help.When my mum dropped me off in a small French town aged 17, I was full of determination to be a professional cyclist, but I was completely green. I went from mowing the team manager's lawn to winning every amateur race I entered. Then I turned pro and realised I hated the ...

The intimate biography of the charismatic Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, now u****pdated to include the 2014 and 2015 investigation into Pantani's death.National Sporting Club Book of the YearShortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award'An exhaustively detailed and beautiful book . . . a fitting, ambivalent tribute - to the man, and to the dark heart of the sport he loved' Independent

Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape is the astonishing biography of French cycling star Jacques Anquetil. For the first time since his death in 1987, it reveals the extraordinary truth behind the legend, the man and the cyclist.His list of 'firsts' alone makes him worthy of a place in the cycling pantheon: the first man to win the Tour de France five times; the first man to win all three grand tours - the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espa�a; and the first man to win...