End of May 2010 update

My latest book, ‘A Race for Madmen: the extraordinary history of the Tour de France’ is out now. Published by Harper Collins in hardback and available on-line from Amazon.co.uk, WH Smith’s and Waterstones, plus it’s in lots of bookshops up and down the country. It’s my take on the history of the Tour de France, and a lot of the Tour’s story is told by those who’ve taken part. Overall, what I hope to convey is that this is no ordinary sporting contest. Rightly or wrongly, the Tour borders on insane in its distance, route and intensity. Hence the title.

Talking of the Tour de France, I’ve just finished writing the WH Smith’s guide to this year’s race, which
should be in all branches this coming week.
From a British perspective it will be the most
interesting Tour for decades.
It’s the first time a well-funded British team, Team Sky, have taken part. Plus one of the top contenders for the overall title is British, Bradley Wiggins. To mark that there is a lot of detail on British riders, plus an exclusive interview I did with Bradley on the eve of the Giro d’Italia, where he talks about last year’s fourth place, his preparations for this year and about
his future.

European pro cycling as a whole is going through a big period of change now. Who knows where the Landis affair will take us, although I think I have a good idea, and it’s not where a lot of people think. I’ve talked a bit about these changes in ‘A Race for Madmen’, but some of the biggest changes in cycling aren’t going on in European bike racing, they are occurring in Britain.

The UK televised Tour Series races are gathering momentum, with two on the box each week. Also, the Premier Calendar is looking better and better. There are some serious teams and serious racers in Britain. If the momentum here can be maintained we will see them splitting their time between here, Europe and the rest of the cycling world. Maybe one of them will follow Team Sky to the Tour de France in the years to come.

There’s certainly enough talent in the UK, with new names coming to light all the time. One of the things I try to do with the ‘Rides’ stories in Cycling Weekly magazine is to feature some of these young racers. Next week it’s Ian Wilkinson’s pie carrying domestique, James Moss from the Endura team.