John Wilcockson's World of Cycling

If you love cycling of all kinds (especially road), this book is truly one of the best. Wilcockson not only loves and knows cycling, he can write about it with a charming descriptive and stylistic voice. I've read nearly every book published in the last ten years on cycling and this is one of, if not the, very best. I can't wait for Wilcockson's next collection of his cycling tales.

Review of "John Wilcockson's World of Cycling" from Boulder Planet, Coloradoby Rob CoppolilloThirty Tours de France sounds like a long career in cycling, but Boulderite and world-renowned journalist John Wilcockson finds his best form in his sixth and latest book, John Wilcockson's World of Cycling. On the verge of another hectic season of travel and race coverage, the prolific writer will cover his thirtieth Tour this summer and has reported on every major road cycling event, mountain biking and track racing in a career dating from the mid-Sixties. The English-born Wilcockson was a successful amateur cyclist as a young man, then found a comfortable career in civil engineering. When he chose to pursue a life covering bike racing, he says, "My family was shocked, they thought I was crazy! I had prospects of a good career in engineering, but I can't say I've had a dull day in 30 years." Whatever prospects he left in engineering, he has seems to have equaled in his writing. He has covered cycling for the London Times, the Sunday Times in London, Winning, several other English publications and now co-owns a magazine based in Boulder, VeloNews. Sports journalism, as a genre, sometimes conceals the extent of a writer's quality. With deadlines, space constraints and a narrower audience, the final product loses a measure of breadth. Wilcockson's World of Cycling will surprise his fans expecting mere reportage. The work is as much travel writing as journalism, showcasing the depth of Wilcockson's talent and his keen eye for detail. "I'm a travel buff in many ways...I walk around places to see more than meets the eye. That's one of the fun things about cycling, it's not a stadium sport. The geography, the climate, these guys are racing in the elements," he explains. Early in the book, in a charming description of the 1969 Tour of Sardinia, we are treated to the particulars of the bicycle race, but the event doesn't end at the finish line. As Wilcockson departs the island on a ferry, he recalls, "...a black-clad mamma...was arguing-as only Italians can...Then the scene rapidly became quiet, dark and deserted...the final zephyr blowing the dockside clean, sending an odd newspaper and dust swirling into the cold, black water." World of Cycling covers nearly every facet of bicycle racing, from the Olympic road race, to the Tour de France, a six-day track event and mountain bike world championships. Loyal Wilcockson readers will devour his authoritative race accounts, as usual, but discover widely expanded coverage. Any cycling fan remembers five-time Tour de France champion, Spaniard Miguel Indurain falling apart in 1996 Tour and it's here, only more of it, clearly chronicled kilometer by kilometer! Racers will also find lesser-known stories like Robert Millar's heart-breaking defeat in the 1985 Tour of Spain. The Scotsman Millar lost not because he faltered physically, but through the reproachable collusion of the Sp