It has been called the Tour de France’s ‘Hollywood climb’, and there is no doubt that Alpe d’Huez has played a starring role in cycling’s history since its first encounter with the sport back in 1952 when the legendary Fausto Coppi triumphed on the summit. Re-introduced to the Tour in 1976, Alpe d’Huez has risen to mythical status, thanks initially to a string of victories by riders from Holland, whose exploits attracted tens of thousands of their compatriots to the climb, which ha...

'Peter Cossins is an engaging writer whose conversational style makes this an effortless yet interesting read. The cosy tone delivers a great deal with a good balance of history and anecdotes. If you wish to explore cycling beyond the Grand Tours this is the book.' - Carlton KirbyAn awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary 'classic' races in world cycling.The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but i...

A year-long adventure by bike across the Pyrenees to discover the rich history, stunning scenery and epic adventures it holds.First captivated by the mountains as a cycling fan in the early 1990s, Peter Cossins moved with his family to the French Pyrenees in 2016 and has recently completed a year meandering through the chain by bike. In Pyrenean Highs, he explores the long history of the Pyrenees, investigating how it's been moulded as a result of being a ...

When, during the Pyrenean stages of the 1998 Tour de France, a journalist asked Marco Pantani why he rode so fast in the mountains, the elfin Italian, unmistakeable in the bandanna and hooped ear-rings that played up to his "Pirate" nickname, replied: "To shorten my agony."Drawing on the fervour for these men of the mountains, Climbers looks at what sets these athletes apart within the world of bike racing, about why we love and cherish them, how they make cycling...

Great cyclists are born, but winning cyclists are made by the brains of their managers. The craft of racing requires a non-stop obsession with detail: watching rivals, judging the strength of a break, knowing the course, and picking the right moment to seize a fleeting opportunity and turn it into a big win.How the Race Was Won investigates the fine details of bicycle racing through extensive interviews with the sport's brightest minds. Author Peter Cossins has interrogated the riders, man...

An awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary “classic” races in world cycling.The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling's one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called 'Monuments', the five legendary races that are the sport's equivalent of golf's majors or the grand slams in tennis. Milan–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liè...

* WINNER OF THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR*Discover this 100-year anniversary celebration of the hardest-earned and most sacred prize in sport, the Tour de France's Yellow Jersey.In 2019, the cycling world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of sport's most iconic and distinguished prize: the Yellow Jersey. Beautifully produced and packed full of interviews with riders such as Chris Froome, Thomas Voeckler a...

Le Tour 100 is a unique and stunning visual reference to the world's greatest race. With 100 computer-generated artworks detailing the routes of the greatest stages, it relates the most dramatic moments with an exhaustively researched array of facts, figures and stories to give the reader the ultimate Tour de France book.Published to celebrate the 100th race, the 100 seminal moments of the Tour have been chosen by the panel of authors and each has ...

The autobiography of cycling's Mr Clean who refused to dope or to remain silent about doping – and was exiled from the sport.Christophe Bassons is a former professional cyclist. His career was a successful one albeit never in the full glare of the media. That all changed when, in 1998, the Festina doping scandal broke and Bassons shot to fame as one of the handful of clean riders in the peloton - and as the only professional who dared to speak openly about the topi...

From its inception, the 1903 Tour de France was a colorful affair. Full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating, it was a race to be remembered.Cyclists of the time weren't enthusiastic about participating in this "heroic" race on roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to thirty-five pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant paying unemployed amateurs from the suburbs of Paris, includi...

Ultimate Étapes is the essential guide to cycling the very best routes in Europe. From the epic ascent of the Stelvio to the windswept coastline of the Netherlands’ North Sea, by way of the cobbles of Flanders and Italy’s Strade Bianche, Peter Cossins has created a guide to the stages that have defined modern cycling. Taken together, they create a tour of Europe that offers as broad a variety of terrain as any of the Grand Tours would provide, enabling riders inspired by the beau...

Bloomsbury presents The Monuments 2nd edition by Peter Cossins, read by Nathaniel Priestley.An awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary “classic” races in world cycling.The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling’s one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called ‘Monuments’, the five legendary races that are the sport’s equivalent of golf’s majors or the grand slam...