Merckx Half Man Half Bike

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Random House
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2012-03-22
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781409018957

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Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike by William Fotheringham Pdf

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER What makes a man the greatest of all time? Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Muhammad Ali is to boxing or Pelé to football: quite simply, the best there has ever been. Merckx was a machine. It wasn't just the number of victories (445); it was his remorseless domination that created the legend. He didn't just beat his opponents, he crushed them. But his triumphs only tell half a story that includes horrific injury, a doping controversy and tragedy. He was nicknamed 'The Cannibal' for his insatiable appetite for victory, but the moniker did scant justice to a man who was handsome, sensitive and surprisingly anxious. Britain's leading cycling writer, William Fotheringham, goes back to speak to those who were there at the time and those who knew Merckx best to find out what made Eddy Merckx so invincible. 'The full unvarnished of one man’s heaven, and hell, on wheels' Independent

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Chicago Review Press
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781613747261

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Half Man, Half Bike by William Fotheringham Pdf

First published in Great Britain in 2012 as Merckx, half man, half bike by Yellow Jersey Press"--T.p. verso.

Author : Daniel Friebe
Publisher : Random House
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2012-03-22
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781448146680

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Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe Pdf

'The whole point of a race is to find a winner... I chose to race, so I chose to win.' For 14 years between 1965 and 1978, cyclist Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx simply devoured his rivals, their hopes and their careers. His legacy resides as much in the careers he ruined as the 445 victories - including five Tour de France wins and all the monument races - he amassed in his own right. So dominant had Merckx become by 1973 that he was ordered to stay away from the Tour for the good of the event. Stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France perfectly illustrates his untouchable brilliance. Already wearing the yellow jersey on the col du Tourmalet, the Tour's most famous peak, Merckx powered clear and rode the last 140 kilometres to the finish-line in jaw-dropping solitude, eight minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. Merckx's era has been called cycling's Golden Age.It was full of memorable characters who, at any other time, would all have gone on to become legends. Yet Merckx's phenomenal career overshadowed them all. How did he achieve such incredible success? And how did his rivals really feel about him? Merckx failed drug tests three times in his career - were they really stitch ups as he claimed? And what of the crash at a track meet in Blois, France that killed Merckx's pacer Fernand Wambst, which Merckx claimed deeply affected him psychologically and physically? Or the attack by a spectator in 1975? Despite his unique achievements, we know little about the Cannibal beyond his victories. This will be the first comprehensive biography of Merckx in English, and will finally expose the truth behind this legendary man.

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Random House
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2009-11-10
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781409077459

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Fallen Angel by William Fotheringham Pdf

Voted the most popular Italian sportsman of the twentieth century, Fausto Angelo Coppi was the campionissimo - champion of champions. The greatest cyclist of the immediate post-war years, he was the first man to win cycling's great double, the Tour de France and Tour of Italy in the same year - and he did it twice. He achieved mythical status for his crushing solo victories, world titles and world records. But his significance extends far beyond his sport. Coppi's scandalous divorce and controversial early death convulsed a conservative, staunchly Roman Catholic Italy in the 1950s. At a time when adultery was still illegal, Coppi and his lover were dragged from their bed in the middle of the night, excommunicated and forced to face a clamorous legal battle. The ramifications of this case are still being felt today. In Fallen Angel, acclaimed cycling biographer, William Fotheringham, tells the tragic story of Coppi's life and death - of how a man who became the symbol of a nation's rebirth after the disasters of war died reviled and heartbroken. Told with insight and intelligence, this is a unique portrait of Italy and Italian sport at a time of tumultuous change.

Author : Geoff Drake
Publisher : VeloPress
Page : 459 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2011-08-01
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9781937716059

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Team 7-Eleven by Geoff Drake Pdf

In 1980, there were exactly four professional bike racers in America. Six years later, an American cycling team would wear the coveted yellow jersey of the Tour de France. And that same team would go on to win Italy's greatest race--the Giro d'Italia--only two years later. Team 7-Eleven is the extraordinary story of how two Olympic speed skaters, Jim Ochowicz and Eric Heiden, pulled together a small group of amateur cyclists and turned them into one of the greatest cycling teams the sport has known. From humble beginnings in a barn in Pennsylvania to soaring victories in the French Alps, Team 7-Eleven is the complete history that has never been fully told--until now. The 7-Eleven Cycling Team--Team 7-Eleven for short--launched the careers of American cycling superstars Andy Hampsten, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Ron Kiefel, and many more. It also changed the cycling world, creating a new team structure based on multiple stars, unified goals, and personal sacrifice for the greater good. And yet at the time it was formed, the number of American cyclists with world-class experience could be counted--literally--on one hand. And the number of American teams that competed in Europe's biggest races was exactly zero. Team 7-Eleven is the amazing story of how two cycling fans found one exceptional sponsor and created the greatest American cycling team of its era. Written with the enthusiastic cooperation of the team members, Team 7-Eleven will impress cycling fans with behind-the-scenes stories of the team's founding, its growing pains, and its lasting success as the team that established America as a powerhouse in the world of professional cycling.

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2013-06-06
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9780571303632

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Racing Hard by William Fotheringham Pdf

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 events of the last twenty-three years - the triumphs, the tragedies and the scandals that have engulfed the world's most demanding sport. Key articles from his career are annotated with notes and reflections. What would he have said if he'd known then what we all know now about Lance Armstrong? Which cyclists and teams were not all they seemed? And which victories still rank as the greatest of all time? This is the definitive collection of cycling reporting.

Author : Peter Cossins
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2014-03-13
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9781408846827

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The Monuments by Peter Cossins Pdf

An awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary 'classic' races in world cycling. '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 Kirby 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–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy date back more than a century, and each of them is an anomaly in modern-day sport, the cycling equivalent of the Monaco Grand Prix. Time has changed them to a degree, but they remain as brutally testing as they ever have been. They provide the sport's outstanding one-day performers – the likes of Philippe Gilbert, Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan and Thor Hushovd – with a chance to measure themselves against each other and their predecessors in the most challenging tests in world cycling. From the bone-shattering bowler-hat cobbles of the Paris–Roubaix (rumoured to be Bradley Wiggins' next challenge) to the insanely steep hellingen in the Tour of Flanders, each race is as unique as the riders who push themselves through extreme exhaustion to win them and enter their epic history. Over the course of a century, only Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck have won all five races. Yet victory in a single edition of a Monument guarantees a rider lasting fame. For some, that one victory has even more cachet than success in a grand tour. Each of the Monuments has a fascinating history, featuring tales of the finest and largest characters in the sport. In The Monuments Peter Cossins tells the tumultuous history of these extraordinary races and the riders they have immortalised.

Author : Peter Sagan
Publisher : VeloPress
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2018-12-05
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9781948006118

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My World by Peter Sagan Pdf

In My World, Peter Sagan, one of cycling's greatest riders of all time, gives bike racing fans a glimpse behind the scenes of his cycling life, revealing the full extent of his dedication to competition and determination to win. With four Tour de France points jersey victories, three road race world championships, the 2018 Paris-Roubaix, and multiple spring classics among Sagan’s palmares, the world of cycling agrees that this intense yet fun-loving rider is among the most dominant and fun-to-watch riders of his generation. Inside My World, Sagan discusses his relationship with fellow riders, his heroes, and how he copes with the expectation of success. He also shares technical details about his preparation, dissects the art of the sprint, and analyzes the tactics that play out during a fiercely competitive stage or race.

Author : Laurent Fignon
Publisher : Random House
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2010-06-16
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781407075211

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We Were Young and Carefree by Laurent Fignon Pdf

'Ah, I remember you: you're the guy who lost the Tour de France by eight seconds!' 'No monsieur, I'm the guy who won the Tour twice. The international bestselling autobiography of the legendary French cyclist Laurent Fignon Two-time winner of the Tour de France in the early eighties, Laurent Fignon became the star for a new generation. In the 1989 tour, he lost out to his American arch-rival, Greg LeMond, by an agonising eight seconds. In this revealing account, the former champion spares nobody, not even himself, and pulls back the curtain on what really went on behind the scenes of this epic sport - the friendships, the rivalries, the betrayals, the parties, the girls and, of course, the performance-enhancing drugs. Fignon's story bestrides a golden age in cycling: a time when the headlines spoke of heroes, not doping, and a time when cyclists were afraid of nothing. ‘Sports book of the year: He's ruthlessly honest, about himself and about cycling, and he provides a gripping insight into an unrelenting hard world’ Independent

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Cyclists
ISBN : OCLC:1341891420

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Half Man, Half Bike by William Fotheringham Pdf

Author : Frederik Backelandt,Ron Reuman,Stephan Vanfleteren,Jan Maes
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Cyclists
ISBN : 1934030899

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Merckx 525 by Frederik Backelandt,Ron Reuman,Stephan Vanfleteren,Jan Maes Pdf

Eddy Merckx is revered as cycling's living deity. He gobbled up a record 525 race wins during his fearsome 14-year professional career. This book celebrates this awe-inspiring man through a new collection of previously unpublished photographs, showing his transformation.

Author : Jools Walker
Publisher : Sphere
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2019-05-23
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780751570762

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Back in the Frame by Jools Walker Pdf

'We'll all recognise ourselves somewhere in this book' Emily Chappell 'One of the best cycling books of all time' BookAuthority A joyful dose of inspiration that every cyclist, from rookie to randonneur, can take something valuable from' Road.cc If your bike has become your biggest escape of late, Back in the Frame from award-winning blogger, Lady Vélo, is the book for you Jools Walker rediscovered cycling aged 28 after a decade-long absence from the saddle. When she started blogging about her cycle adventures under the alias Lady Vélo, a whole world was opened up to her. But it's hard to find space in an industry not traditionally open to women - especially women of colour. Shortly after getting back on two wheels, Jools was diagnosed with depression and then, in her early thirties, hit by a mini-stroke. Yet, through all of these punctures, one constant remained: Jools' love of cycling. Funny, moving and motivational, this book tells the story of how Jools overcame these challenges, stepped outside her comfort zone and learned to cycle her own path. Along the way she shares a wealth of inspirational stories and tips from other female trailblazers, and shows how cycling can and should be a space for everyone. A celebration of cycling, Back in the Frame will motivate you to get back on your bike and enjoy the ride, no matter what life throws at you.

Author : David Walsh
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2015-10-27
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781501133190

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Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh Pdf

The basis for the upcoming major motion picture The Program directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, The Queen, Philomena), starring Chris O'Dowd as journalist David Walsh and Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong. When Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999, the sports world had found a charismatic new idol. Journalist David Walsh was among a small group covering the tour who suspected Armstrong’s win wasn’t the feel-good story it seemed to be. From that first moment of doubt, the next thirteen years of Walsh’s life would be focused on seeking the answers to a series of hard questions about Armstrong’s astonishing success. As Walsh delved ever deeper into the shadow world of performance-enhancing drugs in professional athletics, he accumulated a mounting pile of evidence that led a furious Armstrong to take legal action against him. But he could not make Walsh—or the story—go away, and in the autumn of 2012, Walsh was vindicated when the cyclist was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. With this remarkable book, Walsh has produced both the definitive account of the Armstrong scandal, and a testament to the importance of journalists who are willing to report a difficult truth over a popular fantasy.

Author : Phil Gaimon
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2017-10-10
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9781524705008

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Draft Animals by Phil Gaimon Pdf

From the author of the cult favorite Pro Cycling on $10 a Day and Ask a Pro, the story of one man’s quest to realize his childhood dream, and what happened when he actually did it. Like countless other kids, Phil Gaimon grew up dreaming of being a professional athlete. But unlike countless other kids, he actually pulled it off. After years of amateur races, hard training, living out of a suitcase, and never taking “no” for an answer, he finally achieved his goal and signed a contract to race professionally on one of the best teams in the world. Now, Gaimon pulls back the curtain on the WorldTour, cycling’s highest level. He takes readers along for his seasons in Europe, covering everything from rabid, water-bottle-stealing Belgian fans, to contract renewals, to riding in poisonous smog, to making friends in a sport plagued by doping. Draft Animals reveals a story as much about bike racing as it is about the never-ending ladder of achieving goals, failure, and finding happiness if you land somewhere in-between.

Author : William Fotheringham
Publisher : Random House
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2015-05-14
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781448156368

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Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling by William Fotheringham Pdf

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 instigated a legendary punch-up with demonstrators in 1982 while in the middle of a race. His battles with teammates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond in the 1986 Tour resulted in one of the greatest races of all time. Three decades on from his retirement, Hinault remains the last French winner of the Tour de France. Here, William Fotheringham shows that while France may one day find a new champion, there will never be another Bernard Hinault.