Cycling Biography

In 1935, Fred A. Birchmore left the small American town of Athens, Georgia, to continue his college studies in Europe. In his spare time, Birchmore toured the continent on a one-speed bike he called Bucephalus (after the name of Alexander the Great's horse). A born wanderer, Birchmore broadened his travels to include the British Isles and even the Mediterranean. After a lengthy, unplanned detour in Egypt, Birchmore put his studies on hold, pointed Bucephalus eastward, and just kept going.

Ashwin is arguably the greatest match-winner for India in Test cricket. The fastest man to 300 Test wickets, he was a part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup in the ODI format. In T20 cricket, he has won two IPL titles and a Champions League T20. He is a feisty offspinner and more than a...

At the young age of 17, Sachin Tendulkar earned the title of being the second youngest man to score a hundred runs in international cricket. Sachin: The Story of The World's Greatest Batsman is a book that traces the life and achievements of this individual, who is hailed as being the finest...

Brought to you by Penguin. The final word on a record-breaking career from cycling's most formidable sprinter Mark Cavendish is the stand-out British cyclist of our most golden generation. With his 35th Tour de France win in 2024, he became the outright all-time record holder for the most stage...

"‘. . . being a player from India defines who I am. When I play, it’s for my parents, my coach, and my country.’ Meet Saina Nehwal—India’s star badminton player and World Number 4, Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awardee, the girl who brought laurels to India by winning an Olympic...

Believe, Sachin Tendulkar told him - and he took it to heart, getting the word etched on his arm as a tattoo. In this book, Suresh Raina takes us through the challenges he faced as a young cricketer. He was bullied in school and at cricket camps, but he always punched above his weight...

The autobiography of a cycling legend that will become a much-loved classic. The much-anticipated autobiography of the greatest Australian cyclist of all time. Famous in the sport for his meticulous preparation and an athlete who prided himself on his ability to leave it all on the road, Evans writes about the triumphs, the frustrations, the training, the preparation, the psychology of the sport, his contemporaries, the legends and his enduring love of cycling. A riveting and forensic account of his life on the bike....

The biggest annual sports event in the world is the Tour de France. In the wake of its overwhelming popularity, it’s easy to forget that there is much more to cycling than whoever gets to wear the yellow jersey. Cycling is rich with legends and pioneers, and it is their stories which light up this compelling account of the sport. This is the story of British cycling as told through the lives of the people who built it. From the first recorded race in a Paris park in 1868 to the present day, Great British Cycling Legends profiles the true originals.

The first in-depth look at Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tours de France after staring down cancer, and in the process became an...

It started with a cash drop by an English spy in occupied Paris in 1944. Reserved for Resistance groups during the war, the money reached Émilien Amaury, an advertising executive, who was tasked to help France return to a free press once liberated. He soon launched a newspaper empire that—unbeknown to him—would own the rights to run what would become one of the greatest sporting events in history.

Wieso fährt ein Mensch mit der eigenen Muskelkraft Berge hinauf – auch mit mäßigen Erfolgsaussichten und unter allergrößten Qualen? Und wieso setzt er sich am nächsten Tag aufs Rad und beginnt von vorn? Was ist das Geheimnis dieses Sports, der das größte Opfer und das größte Glück vereint? Rick Zabel kennt die Antwort. Als Sohn eines erfolgreichen Sprinters wurde er selbst Profi, fuhr alle großen Rennen – mit deutlich weniger Siegen, aber mit derselben Hingabe und Leidenschaft.

Bellissimo in volo come l'Airone, e come l'Airone inadatto alla terra. Di qui il dramma di Fausto Coppi, la sua scissione, l'essere stato predisposto da una bizzarra natura a vivere una vita da ciclista e non da uomo, con le sue debolezze e le sue passioni. Così, quando fu travolto dalla passione come un uomo qualsiasi, quando incontrò la sfolgorante Giulia, i suoi tifosi e il mondo intero non gli perdonarono quel momento di debolezza.

When Geoff Thomas struggled to play a friendly game of tennis while on holiday in Mallorca in May 2003, he thought little of it. Recently retired as a footballer, he believed it was a sign of ageing and perhaps a pulled muscle. But when the pain wouldn't go away, his wife Julie persuaded him to go to a doctor. He was diagnosed as having leukaemia. Riding Through the Storm focuses on his journey round the Tour de France in the summer of 2005.

Across the UK, into Europe and further afield, these are the training rides, races and journeys closest to his heart. From one-day classics in the Peak District and Snowdonia to the rolling roads of Tuscany and the wide-open vistas of New Zealand's South Island, these are the routes you'll want to ride alongside Britain's favourite cycling superstar. Twenty rides, twenty adventures you'll never forget.

To achieve an Olympic gold is impressive; to be part of a couple doing this in the same sport is rare; to do it 10 times between you is unprecedented. Britain's most successful female and male Olympians give us the inside track on becoming a champion. Hear their take on how they became the best in the world while finding in each other the perfect partner.

In 2001, when the bible of the sport, Cycling Weekly, ran a poll to decide the greatest British cyclist, Chris Boardman's was the name that topped the list. It was Boardman's lone achievements in the '80s and '90s - Olympic track gold, the world hour record, repeatedly claiming the yellow jersey in the Tour de France - that lit the spark for modern British cycling. His endeavours both on and off the bike have made him the founding father of current golden generation - without him there would simply be no Hoy, Wiggins or Cavendish.

Before Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. Behind Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. One of only five Britons to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Sean Yates burst onto the cycling scene as the rawest pure talent this country has ever seen. After turning professional at the age of 22, he soon became known as a die-hard domestique, putting his body on the line for his teammates.

Alejandro Valverde - the 'Green Bullet' - was a symbol of Spanish sport. Supremely talented, hard-working beyond belief, he was ranked no.1 in the world four times before retiring in 2022. He is a champion of undeniable charisma and immense achievement - and yet also a convicted doping cheat. Appearing in a list of encoded names, Valverde was one of many at the heart of a doping ring for elite sportsmen. Discovered by Spanish police in the infamous Operacion Puerto, the revelations contained in the operation threatened to rip cycling apart.

Absprachen, Lügen und kuriose Methoden: so kam es zu den Skandalen im Rennradsport. Blutdoping, verbotene Leistungssteigerungen und geheime Abmachungen für den Sieg des Team-Favoriten - ab den 1990er-Jahren taumelte der Radsport und mit ihm die Tour de France von einem Skandal zum nächsten. Vom Glanz des gelben Trikots blieb in jenen Tagen nicht mehr viel. Wie organisiert lief das Doping in der TdF ab, wer war beteiligt und wie konnten berühmte Dopingfälle so lange unbemerkt bleiben?

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 30s, hit by a mini-stroke. Yet, through all of these punctures, one constant remained: Jools' love of cycling.