What is it really like to be a racer?
What is it like to be swept along at 60kmh in the middle of the pack? What happens to the body during a high-speed chute? What tactics must teams employ to win the day, the jersey, the grand tour? What sacrifices must a cyclist make to reach the highest levels? What is it like on the bus? In the hotels? What camaraderie is built in the confines of a team? What rivalries? How does it feel to be constantly on the road, away from loved ones, tasting one more calorie-counted hotel breakfast?
David Millar offers us a unique insight into the mind of a professional cyclist during his last year before retirement. Over the course of a season on the World Tour, Millar puts us in touch with the sights, smells and sounds of the sport. This is a book about youth and age, fresh-faced excitement and hard-earned experience. It is a love letter to cycling.
'Cycling has always been about a great deal more than its winners, and The Racer is quite a ride' Spectator
David Millar was a professional cyclist for eighteen years, and was the first Briton to wear the leader's jerseys in the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia. He is now part of the ITV cycling commentary team and a key spokesman on anti-doping. His first book Racing Through the Dark was a bestseller and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.
Title: The Racer: The Inside Story of Life on the Road
Author: Millar, David
ISBN: 9780224100083
Binding:
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Publication Date: 2016-05-05
Number of Pages: 304
Weight: 0.3675 kg
David Millar's book takes you inside the sport of cycling while also emphasising the absurdity of it. It's quite rare for a sportsman to be so immersed and yet able to detach themselves from it all ... The parts on crashing are amazing. I felt frightened and sore reading it -- Richard Moore, author of Slaying the Badger
Cycling has always been about a great deal more than its winners, and The Racer is quite a ride -- Jon Day * Spectator *
What's it really like to be a professional bike racer? David Millar gives you an unparalleled insight -- Colin Henrys * Road Cycling UK *
A love letter to the simple pleasure of riding a bike, and a very well-written one at that -- Jamie Beach * Bike Radar *
Millar's love for what he did, and the curious world he inhabited for 18 years, shines through his prose * Scotsman *