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?
How does it feel to be reeled in from a solo breakaway metres from the
line? What happens to the body during a high-speed chute? What tactics
must teams employ to win the day, the jersey, the grand tour? How does a
domestique keep going to the end of a stage once his job is done and
his body exhausted? How does a time-trialist maintain his form when
every muscle and sinew is screaming at him to stop? 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 - the barked instructions of a road
captain in a sprint chain, the silence of a solo training ride. This is
a book about youth and age, fresh-faced excitement and hard-earned
experience. It is a love letter to cycling.
