The first non-European to win the Yellow Jersey, he broke the Old World stranglehold and changed the face of the competition.But LeMond's victory was hard won. It was seemingly snatched from the jaws of the man ominously dubbed 'The Badger'. Frenchman Bernard 'Le Blaireau' Hinault was five times winner of the Tour and as tough as boots. After winning the 1985 Tour, in which LeMond came a close second, Hinault vowed to return for one final Tour, and with a single purpose: to help LeMond win.But could Hinault be trusted? As the race circled France, he repeatedly attacked LeMond. Hinault claimed to the press that his apparent treachery was merely intended to make LeMond stronger. But LeMond, who didn't believe him, became increasingly fearful, anxious and paranoid.The Tour is renowned for its psychological complexity - but what played out in 1986 was unheard of. Why was Hinault putting his own teammate in jeopardy? Would LeMond crack under the pressure? Something sinister was going on but no one - not even LeMond -- knew quite what.Slaying the Badger relives the adrenaline, the agony, the camaraderie, the betrayals, and the pure exhilaration of the 1986 Tour. Richard Moore has interviewed all the key players including the story's two enigmatic, eccentric and fiercely different protagonists. As he delves behind the scenes, the biggest conundrum of Tour history is finally laid bare.

    Now clean and reflective, David holds nothing back in this account of his dark years.Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2011.

    This work features Europe's 50 greatest cycling climbs specially selected as scenes of sporting heroism, marvels of nature, spiritual places of pilgrimage that every bike rider or fan wishes to one day visit and conquer.

    An hilarious account of a couple of wannabe mountain bikers as they race from Canada to Mexico.

    A love affair of sorts develops between rider and bike, with all the constituent parts: obsession, devotion and longing. In extreme cases, hospitalization is required - among the more restrained, bicycle becomes muse, inspiring great works of art in a variety of media, all in an attempt to capture the spirit of the infatuation. Bike Art pays homage to our two-wheeled friend, presenting works created on walls, canvases, paper, pedestals, bikeframes, skin and clothing by an international team of artists including TALIAH LEMPERT, JANET BIKE GIRL, MONA CARON, BORIS INDRIKOV, DZINE, MATT W. MOORE, ANDY SINGER, MIKE GIANT, DAVID GERSTEIN, MARK GRIEVE & ILANA SPECTOR, BIKE 2.0, AZOR, I BIKE, KEVIN CYR, OLEK, DUANE FLATMO and more. In addition, the bicycle receives a complete makeover as designers compete to create the most original ride, whether re-envisioning the age-old form in its entirety or creating custom pieces for private consumption. A voyeuristic showcase of the lesser-known aspects of the culture including festivals, performing arts and good works - rounds out this must-have volume.

    

    I had nothing left in the legs, but as a cyclist, you just keep going until the finish. I kept reminding myself that I had to get to the finish." Filled with never-before-seen pictures and revealing insights into the thoughts of the champion, this book celebrates in words and photographs Cadel Evans's indomitable will and champion's heart. Evans's hard-fought triumphs and equally challenging disappointments—in the bicycle races that are thought to be the most grueling endurance test in sports—are a tribute to his strength of spirit. He discusses his inspiring and heroic battle to be the first Australian to win the biggest cycling race in the world, the Tour de France. This is a rare and fascinating look at the way a top rider races both mentally and physically.

    Hop on a bike and that view will brighten drastically. Travels with Willie is about finding adventure and facing fear, embarrassing blunders and language barriers, ice cream and kindness, Cuba and Colombia, Turkey and Thailand, the world's steepest street and the world's cheapest engagement ring, catching a thief and losing a zebra, a father's touch and a farmer's embrace, buying time and spending another night.Fellow bicycle travelers will smile with recognition, and arm-chair travelers will find themselves wandering into a bike shop, looking for a passport to adventure.

    With "The Story of the Giro d'Italia", the fabulous history of Italy's national tour is at last available. Volume One takes the story of the Giro from its origin as a desperate promotional gamble by a nearly broke newspaper to Eddy Merckx's convincing 1970 victory.

    In The Art of Mountain Biking, Robert Hurst deliberately avoids discussion of equipment, training, and other subjects that have already been beaten to death in mountain bike books and magazines, to focus on the deeply complex art of riding trails. From page to page and switchback to switchback, he chases the complex mysteries that make trail riding so difficult—and so rewarding—from the application of “soft power” and the biomechanics of balance and vision, to the philosophy of line choice and the Riccatti equations that describe the path of the bike's rear wheel, to the nature of dirt itself.Built on the author’s own quarter-century of experience and the tried-and-true wisdom of many other veteran mountain bikers, this environmentalist and darkly humorous manual provides a collection of unexpected knowledge that will be indispensable to both novices and experts. Throughout, Hurst explains with clarity, revelation—and a healthy dash of wit—the ins and outs of riding a mountain bike.

    His name was Bobby Walthour, and in the early 1900s he was one of the world’s most famous and highly paid athletes. Life in the Slipstream chronicles Walthour’s rise from a lowly bicycle messenger in Georgia to a two-time national and international cycling champion who was nearly as popular in Paris and his adopted home of Berlin as he was in his hometown of Atlanta. His career parallels the surging popularity of the bicycle in America, and this biography depicts his life against the backdrop of the bicycle craze that swept America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Readers will experience the rough-and-tumble world of professional cycling at the turn of the twentieth century, where deadly accidents and illicit drugs were commonplace. During Walthour’s long career, more than a dozen of his rivals were killed or permanently injured. He himself suffered multiple injuries—from fractured ribs and separated collarbones to mangled fingers and concussions—and was twice declared dead as a result of racing accidents. But Walthour’s fortunes on the racing circuit ultimately took a dramatic turn for the worse when his personal life began to unravel because of drug abuse and an unhappy marriage that culminated in his attempted murder—by his own wife. Life in the Slipstream is an unforgettable account of the rise and fall of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.

    Cyclists learn how to handle the bike, perform minor maintenance, select clothing and accessories, join clubs, and find events. The book also covers every aspect of riding in a group, emphasizing such specific skills as how to avoid bumping into other riders when riding in close quarters and fixing a flat quickly enough to rejoin the group. Author Patrick Brady explores the particular pleasures that come from group riding, a unique experience at once social (talking with friends while riding), exciting (descending in a group), and exhilarating (finishing a long hill). Brady also details the enormous fitness benefits of riding in a group. The No-Drop Zone has all the knowledge a cyclist needs to move to that next level of skill.

    And then there are Italian bicycles. As with high fashion or sports cars, when the world speaks of racing bicycles the conversation soon turns to Italy. Seasoned cyclists know that an Italian bicycle is more intimately yours, a more personal possession, than a bicycle of other origin. Italian bicycles are built to race with passion, and to win.Italian Racing Bicycles traces the rich history of 40 landmark brands intimately connected with racing. Not surprisingly, the brands have deep roots, some tracing their lineage back more than 100 years to the early days of the velocipede. They also share a hunger for advanced technology, pushing engineering to new heights with exotic metal alloys, elaborate weaves of expensive carbon fiber, and aerodynamic studies that help their bikes and riders cheat the wind for greater speed.Beyond these commonalities, though, the stories diverge. The restless inquisitiveness of Ernesto Colnago could not be more different from the methodical calm of Ugo De Rosa, for example, and yet these two iconic frame builders contributed immeasurably to the racing victories of the great Eddy Merckx. The passion for experimentation of Pinarello, the brazen creativity of Cinelli, the barrier-bursting hour machine of Moser—in search of racing victories, the volcanic inspiration of Italian artisans has repeatedly reshaped the dynamics of cycling.Melding painstaking historical research with personal visits to each artist’s workshop, author Guido P. Rubino has unearthed the stories, the methods, the dreams, and the personalities of these cycling firms, large and small, that have contributed so fundamentally to the glory of the sport.The brands: 3TTT, Alan, Ambrosio, Atala, Bianchi, Bottecchia, Campagnolo, Casati, Cinelli, Colnago, Columbus, Daccordi, Dedacciai – Deda Elementi, De Rosa,Ganna, Gios, Gipiemme, Guerciotti, Legnano, Masi, Miche, Milani, Modolo, Moser, Olmo, Olympia, Passoni, Pegoretti, Pinarello, Rossin, Scapin, Selle Italia, Selle Royal–Fi’zi:k, Selle San Marco, Somec, Tommasini, Torpado, Universal, Viner, Wilier Triestina.

    Michael Lämmler once sarcastically described Elden “Fatty” Nelson. Now it’s the name of the first Best of FatCyclist.com volume. So take that, Dr. Lämmler. Taken from the first two-ish years of the FatCyclist.com blog, but peppered with new insights, introductions, and an absurd number of footnotes describing what Fatty was thinking as he wrote, this book contains valuable information every cyclist absolutely must know. Marvel at Fatty’s penetrating analysis of cycling company ads, his completely scientific method for rating the value of each cyclist you pass during recreational rides, his keen insight regarding how to pee while riding your bike, a whole bunch of epic ride stories, and quite a few pretty decent swipes at Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France. And more. Much more. No, even more than that. Comedian Mastermind is like the FatCyclist blog, but with Fatty standing behind you, reading over your shoulder, and telling you what he was thinking while he wrote and why he wrote it, all while eating a sizable sandwich. And it’s only the good parts – none of the stuff where Fatty just phoned it in. It makes excellent bathroom reading material.