best tour de france books

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Must-Read Tour de France Books

There have been thousands of books written about the tour de france - after all, there's been plenty to write about. and some of them have been real crackers..

There should be something for everyone on this list of books about the Tour de France , its history and its riders.

Histories of the Tour de France

Following the tour.

Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to Following the World's Greatest Race ( UK , US ) is a few years out of date now but it's still a practical guide to following the Tour. Photographer Watson is a 30-year veteran of the Tour – time he’s spent not just nailing some great photography, but also perfecting the logistics of organising the trip as a spectator. 

Tour de France cyclists

Merckx fans will enjoy Merckx 69: Celebrating the World's Greatest Cyclist in his Finest Year and Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe.

William Fotheringham's ever-popular Put Me Back On My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson remains an excellent read, as does The Badger: Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling .

There is also Indurain , The End of the Road: The Festina Affair and the Tour that Almost Wrecked Cycling , and Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocana by Alasdair Fotheringham.  Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar   is the story of how one of Britain's most promising cyclists got sucked into a world of doping, his arrest and subsequent suspension from the sport tarnishing a promising career. But it's also a story of renewal as Millar writes about life in the wilderness and his journey back to the peloton. See also Millar's The Racer: The Inside Story of Life on the Road .

And to a British rider of a previous generation. Graeme Fife's Brian Robinson: Pioneer charts the life of the first Briton to complete the Tour de France, and the first to claim a stage victory. Robinson also became the first British rider to win the  Critérium du Dauphiné . Fife's book is a profile of a seemingly modest rider whose forays across the Channel and into Europe paved the way for others to follow.

To the modern peloton and we have tomes by Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish's At Speed . My Time ( UK , US ) is Bradley Wiggins' biography. It tracks his climb back from 2010, through the disappointments of 2011 to the podium in 2012 and then to the Olympics. See also My Hour – as the name suggests, it's about his hour record. There is also the more recent Icons: My Inspiration, My Motivation, My Obsession , with a foreward by Merckx.

Doping and the Tour de France

Related articles.

• 2019 Tour de France Official Race Guide

2024 Tour de France program and race guide

• 2023 Tour de France program and race guide
• Le Tour de Gironde à Velo
• Tour de France 2019 route: Stage-by-stage guide
• 2022 Official Tour de France program and race guide
• 2021 Tour de France official program and race guide - OUT NOW
• 2020 Tour de France Official Race Guide

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AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW! The official Tour de France 2024 race program and guide includes all the route maps for each stage, plus stage start and end times, and team and rider profiles.

Posted: 23 Apr 2024

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Best New Tour de France Books

As the Tour de France has grown in popularity with English-speaking fans, so has the number of books about the world’s most prestigious bike race. Here’s a selection of some of the most recent releases on the Tour’s history, champions, and folklore. —Whit Yost

The Climb by Chris Froome

Étape by Richard Moore

The shattered peloton by graham healey, merckx 69 by jan maes and tommy stouken, reckless by alasdair fotheringham, the story of the tour de france by bill and carol mcgann, slaying the badger by richard moore, rouleur centenary tour de france, legends of the tour by jan cleijne, the lanterne rouge by max leonard, .css-1t6om3g:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#f8d811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-1t6om3g:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} tour de france.

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Updated 6/30/2023

Watching the Tour de France on television has been a favorite rite of early summer for my family. If you've never watched a professional road cycling race—I don't blame you. The rules can seem arcane (sock height regulations!); etiquette transgressions can be hard to follow (don't attack during a "nature break"!); and the jargon, much of it from the French, takes time to learn (domestiques, musettes, soigneurs, sticky bottles, super tucks...), but it's a fascinating sport with a storied history. 

Whether you caught Tour de France fever after watching Netflix's recent  Tour de France: Unchained series or you're a seasoned fan, here are some reading selections about the sport of cycling, the history of the Tour (the scandals!), some of the major players, as well as some fiction reads if that's more your speed.

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by Peter Cossins From its inception, the 1903 Tour de France was a colorful affair. Cyclists of the time weren't enthusiastic about participating in this "heroic" race on roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to thirty-five pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant paying unemployed amateurs from the suburbs of Paris, including a butcher, a chimney sweep, and a circus acrobat. Starting in the Parisian suburb of Montgeron, the route took the intrepid cyclists through Lyon, over the hills to Marseille, then on to Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Nantes, ending with great fanfare at the Parc des Princes in Paris. There was no indication that this ramshackle cycling pack would draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes. But they did; and all thanks to a marketing ruse, cycling would never be the same again.

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-Ups, and Winning at All Costs 

by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Hamilton pulls back the curtain on the Tour de France and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before: the doping, the lying, and his years as Lance Armstrong's teammate on U.S. Postal.

The End of the Road: The Festina Affair and the Tour That Almost Wrecked Cycling

by Alasdair Fotheringham The Tour de France is always one of the most spectacular and dramatic events in sports. But the 1998 Tour provided drama like no other. As the opening stages in Ireland unfolded, the Festina team's soigneur, Willy Voet, was arrested at the French-Belgian border with a carload of drugs. Raid upon police raid followed, with arrest after arrest hammering the Tour. In protest, there were riders' strikes and go-slows, with several squads withdrawing en masse and one expelled. By the time the Tour reached Paris, just 96 of the 189 starters remained, and of those 189 starters, more than a quarter were later reported to have doped. The 1998 ” “Tour de Farce's” status as one of the most scandal-struck sporting events in history was confirmed.

Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession With Mountains

by Max Leonard

A  Higher Calling  explores why mountains have such a magnetic appeal to cyclists the world over. But Max Leonard, himself an accomplished amateur cyclist, does not forget the pain, the glory, the sweat, and the tears that go into these grueling climbs. After all, cycling up a mountain is hard. So hard that, to many, it can seem absurd. But for others, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. It is where legends are forged.

Slaying the Badger: Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour De France

by Richard Moore

Slaying the Badger is an incomparably detailed and highly revealing tale of cycling's most extraordinary rivalry which came to a stunning climax in the 1986 Tour de France as two teammates—five-time winner Bernard Hinault and young American Greg LeMond—vied for the yellow jersey. The stakes were high. Winning for Hinault meant capping his long cycling career by becoming the first man to win the Tour six times. For LeMond, a win means bringing America its first Tour de France victory.

Biography & Memoir

The Comeback: Greg Lemond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour De France

by Daniel de Visé

The Comeback  chronicles the life of one of America’s greatest athletes, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame, to a falling out with his own family and a calamitous confrontation with Lance Armstrong over allegations the latter was doping—a campaign LeMond would wage on principle for more than a decade before Armstrong was finally stripped of his own Tour titles. 

One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels

by Jonathan Vaughters

A memoir from the American cyclist discusses his legendary career, his subsequent anti-doping campaign that led him to become a witness against Lance Armstrong, and his founding of the first pro cycling team dedicated to clean riding. 

Racing Through the Dark: Crash. Burn. Coming Clean. Coming Back.

by David Millar

Traces the author's journey as a young Scottish expat in Hong Kong to a professional cyclist who has competed in the Olympics, Vuelta a Espana, and the Tour de France, describing his use of banned performance-enhancing drugs before his arrest, cycling ban, and triumphant return as a determined anti-drug activist.

Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While)

by Phil Gaimon

Like countless other kids, Phil Gaimon grew up dreaming of being a professional athlete. But unlike countless other kids, he actually pulled it off. After years of amateur races, hard training, living out of a suitcase, and never taking “no” for an answer, he finally achieved his goal and signed a contract to race professionally on one of the best teams in the world. Now, Gaimon pulls back the curtain on the WorldTour, cycling’s highest level. He takes readers along for his seasons in Europe, covering everything from rabid, water-bottle-stealing Belgian fans, to contract renewals, to riding in poisonous smog, to making friends in a sport plagued by doping.  Draft Animals  reveals a story as much about bike racing as it is about the never-ending ladder of achieving goals, failure, and finding happiness if you land somewhere in-between.

Road to Valor: A True Story of World War II Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation

by Aili McConnon

Documents the against-the-odds story of cyclist Gino Bartal from his impoverished youth in rural Tuscany and his surprise victory at the Tour de France to his secret role in the Italian resistance and his postwar second Tour de France win. 

Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong 

by Juliet Macur

The definitive account of Lance Armstrong's spectacular rise and fall. Threading together the vivid and disparate voices of those with intimate knowledge of the private and public Armstrong, Macur weaves a comprehensive and unforgettably rich tapestry of one man's astonishing rise to global fame and fortune and his devastating fall from grace.

by Peter Sagan

With four Tour de France points jersey victories, three road race world championships, the 2018 Paris-Roubaix, and multiple spring classics among Sagan’s palmares, the world of cycling agrees that this intense yet fun-loving rider is among the most dominant and fun-to-watch riders of his generation. Inside  My World , Sagan discusses his relationship with fellow riders, his heroes, and how he copes with the expectation of success. He also shares technical details about his preparation, dissects the art of the sprint, and analyzes the tactics that play out during a fiercely competitive stage or race.

The Black Jersey 

by Jorge Zepeda Patterson

When racers in training for the upcoming Tour de France begin suffering violent accidents, the best friend of a favored contender helps the French police only to discover that the killer appears to be favoring his friend's team.

The Invisible Mile 

by David Coventry

The 1928 Ravat-Wonder team from New Zealand and Australia were the first English-speaking team to ride the Tour de France. From June through July they faced one of the toughest in the race's history: 5,476 kilometres of unsealed roads on heavy, fixed-wheel bikes. They rode in darkness through mountains with no light and brakes like glass. They weren't expected to finish.  The Invisible Mile  is a powerful re-imagining of the tour from inside the peloton, where the test of endurance, for one young New Zealander, becomes a psychological journey into the chaos of the War a decade earlier. 

We Begin Our Ascent 

by Joe Mungo Reed

Sol and Liz are a couple on the cusp. He's a professional cyclist in the Tour de France, a workhorse but not yet a star. She's a geneticist on the brink of a major discovery, either that or a loss of funding. They've just welcomed their first child into the world, and their bright future lies just before them; if only they can reach out and grab it. But as Liz's research slows, as Sol starts doping, their dreams grow murkier and the risks graver. Over the whirlwind course of the Tour, they enter the orbit of an extraordinary cast of conmen and aspirants, who draw the young family ineluctably into the depths of an illegal drug smuggling operation. As Liz and Sol flounder to discern right from wrong, up from down, they are forced to decide: What is it we're striving for? And what is it worth?

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

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Read These 3 Books About the Tour de France

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By Concepción de León

• July 27, 2018

As the Tour de France nears its end, here are three books that trace its history and influence, as well as one amateur bicyclist’s adventurous attempt to complete the circuit on his own.

THE FIRST TOUR DE FRANCE Sixty Cyclists and Nineteen Days of Daring on the Road to Paris By Peter Cossins 384 pp. Nation Books. (2017)

As its title suggests, this book delves into the origins of what is now the biggest cycling event in the world. It was organized by editors of a flailing magazine who hoped to drive up interest in their publication, but few were eager to join the three-week long race; it was over tough terrain, more suited to horses than to bicycles, which weighed as much as 35 pounds at the time. The editors bribed a mishmash of unemployed laborers to participate, and Cossins uses their stories to paint a picture of France in the early 1900s to show how the race influenced the culture of cycling.

CYCLE OF LIES The Fall of Lance Armstrong By Juliet Macur 461 pp. Harper. (2014)

In this biography, Macur, a New York Times reporter, writes an illuminating portrait of the most notorious man in cycling. Though doping in sports preceded Armstrong, he was particularly calculated in his use: When he lost a race in 1995, he pressured his teammates into getting on a doping regimen and took extreme measures to ensure he wasn’t caught, like getting blood transfusions to force clean test results or pulling out of races to avoid being tested altogether. According to our reviewer, “what makes the story fascinating isn’t the dope,” but rather “Armstrong himself.” Based on interviews with Armstrong, estranged family members and more than 100 other witnesses, Macur tells the story of how Armstrong gained acclaim and what led to his eventual fall from grace.

FRENCH REVOLUTIONS Cycling the Tour de France By Tim Moore 277 pp. St. Martin’s Press. (2002)

This travelogue is one writer’s account of tracing the 2,256-mile Tour de France circuit of the 2000 race. He was out of shape and a novice biker, so he gave himself double the time, six weeks, to complete it. Our reviewer wrote that Moore “plays his foolhardy crusade purely for laughs, tempering the slapstick with bits of cycling lore and reflections on the event’s physical demands.” Moore gets lost within the first 10 minutes and soon starts cheating, pushing his bike up hills or skipping sections that are particularly challenging, but by the end, wrote our reviewer, “his triumphs — however modest — feel painfully earned.”

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Our favorite books to read during the Tour de France

The Tour de France has been around for over a century, with the first edition taking place in July 1903. The race has been run nearly every year since, pausing only for the two world wars.

The Tour was created by an enterprising French journalist who wanted to sell more newspapers. Henri Desgrange surely had no idea his little bicycle race would evolve into the world's largest annual sporting event, today watched by millions along the roadside and hundreds of millions more on TV.

With all the history come many excellent books to sink into. Here are our favorites — some new, some old, all worth reading.

"The First Tour de France" by Peter Cossins

An exquisite history of the first Tour de France.

"Having portrayed the race's itinerary 'from Paris to the blue waters of the Mediterranean, from Marseille to Bordeaux via pink-tinted and dreaming towns sleeping in the sun ... ' Desgrange revealed his two greatest hopes for the race: no less than the revitalization of French manhood and vitality, and the introduction of high-level sport to French provinces hitherto almost totally ignored by it."

Read more at Nation Books and buy it on Amazon .

"Road to Valor" by Aili and Andres McConnon

Elie Wiesel praised this detailed history for offering "a moving example of moral courage."

"At the age of 24, he stuns the world by winning the Tour de France and becomes an international sports icon. But Mussolini’s Fascists try to hijack his victory for propaganda purposes, derailing Bartali’s career, and as the Nazis occupy Italy, Bartali undertakes secret and dangerous activities to help those being targeted.

"He shelters a family of Jews in an apartment he financed with his cycling winnings and is able to smuggle counterfeit identity documents hidden in his bicycle past Fascist and Nazi checkpoints because the soldiers recognize him as a national hero in training."

Read more at roadtovalorbook and buy it Amazon .

"A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin

American Joe Parkin pursued a dream to race in Europe. This is his "brutally frank memoir."

"I saw my first pro kermis race during my first week in Belgium, and it felt like trying to escape a hall of mirrors but not being able to read the exit signs. Everything was larger than life and more grotesque than I had imagined. But kermis racing was not all about the drugs. If the grand tours are like classical music, kermis racing is punk rock, Belgian-style."

Read more at VeloPress and buy it on Amazon .

"Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocaña" by Alasdair Fotheringham

An intriguing book about a tragic figure. Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist of all time, and Merckx called Luis Ocaña his "most dangerous rival."

"He came across as a hero out of a Scott Fitzgerald novel, with that self-destructive, slightly crazy edge to him."

Read more at Bloomsbury and buy it on Amazon .

"Ventoux" by Jeremy Whittle

"Epic" is a word that diehard cyclists love to hate, but if one climb truly deserves the adjective, it's Mont Ventoux. This book is a deep dive into the epicest! of all the Tour climbs.

"They're all scared. Everybody's afraid. It gets so quiet you can hear a fly buzzing through the peloton." —Eddy Merckx

Read more at Simon & Shuster and buy it on Amazon .

"Rough Ride" by Paul Kimmage

A game-changing exposé, this is one Irish cyclist turned journalist's story about his experiences with widespread doping in pro cycling and the Tour de France.

"The law of silence: it exists not only in the Mafia but also in the peloton. Those who break the law, who talk to the press about the dope problems in the sport are despised. They are branded as having 'craché dans la soupe', they have 'spat in the soup'.

"In writing this book I have broken the law of silence. I have spat in the soup and a lot of people with resent me for it."

Read more at Penguin and buy it on Amazon .

"The Shattered Peloton" by Graham Healy

World War I would see more than 16 million troops and civilians die.

Many of the riders in the 1914 Tour did not return from the war, and three previous winners of the race were among those killed in action.

"Both the archduke and Sophie were dead within half an hour. Another member of the traveling party, Count Harrach, said that the archduke's last words were, "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!"

"As the couple lay dying, the Tour de France continued toward Le Havre."

Read more at Breakaway Books and buy it on Amazon .

"The Secret Race" by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

If you read only one book about Lance Armstrong and his corrupting power, read this unputdownable insider account of the sport's darkest figure in his brightest hour.

"One day I'm a normal person with a normal life," he said. "The next I'm standing on a street corner in Madrid with a secret phone and a hole in my arm and I'm bleeding all over, hoping I don't get arrested. It was completely crazy. But it seemed like the only way at the time."

Read more at Random House and buy it on Amazon .

"Why We Ride" by Patrick Brady

A collection of inspiring philosophical ruminations about the pedaling life.

"The bicycle is a thing of beauty, a potent antidote to the world's ills, an eternal E-ticket ride."

Read more at Red Kite Prayer and buy it on Amazon .

"The Art of the Jersey" by Andy Storey

Channel your inner cycling-design geek with this wonderful journey through 200 or so of the most iconic racing jerseys ever to grace the peloton.

Insightful commentary complements each of the colorful pictures.

Read more at Octopus Books and buy it on Amazon .

"Velopedia" by Robert Dineen

Everything you ever wanted to know about the world of road cycling in 101 fun and contemporary infographics.

Warning: This beautifully illustrated, colorful guide is tough to put down.

Read more at Quarto and buy it on  Amazon .

"The Ultimate Bicycle Owner's Manual" by Eben Weiss

Bike Snob NYC is probably the best read bike blogger on earth. In this humorous guide to bikes and bicycling, he helps readers get the most out of cycling so they can get out and ride.

Read more at Black Dog and Leventhal  and buy it on Amazon .

"Fuelling the Cycling Revolution" by Nigel Mitchell

Looking for a collection of amazing recipes that will fuel your amazing cycling adventures? Get a copy of this authoritative guide from one of the sport's top nutritionists.

The must-read practical guide to what to eat — on and off the bike — for any cyclist looking for a training and performance advantage.

Read more at Bloomsbury Publishing and buy it on Amazon .

"The Cycling Cartoonist" by Dave Walker

Should you store your bike in the living room? What is a good place to hide your new wheels from your partner? How do you become a MAMIL ?

This smart, humorous take on all things cycling is a sheer delight.

"Ask a Pro" by Phil Gaimon

Ever asked yourself, How should I explain my shaved legs to girls? This is the book for you.

A hilarious and often LOL book-length Q&A with a former pro who keeps it real.

"The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold" by Tim Moore

Ever dream of riding a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike 6,000 miles across the old Iron Curtain? Me neither. But Tim Moore did, and he did it.

A delight of a book that is hilariously written. A genuine page-turner.

Read more at Pegasus Books  and buy it on Amazon .

"The Rider" by Tim Krabbé

The best book ever written about bike racing, period.

"Every once in a while someone along the road lets us know how far behind we are. A man shouts: 'Faster!' He probably thinks bicycle racing is about going fast."

Read more at Bloomsbury Publishing  and buy it on Amazon .

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As a cyclist, most of your time is probably spend either riding or thinking about your next ride. To get your riding fix when not on the bike, pick up one of the best cycling books to magic you off an imaginative one, a historical one, a political one or even just help you plan your next one. 

Our favourite cycling books cover a vast array of everything to do with bikes, from the thrilling to tragic tales of life on two wheels, or even all about the history of one of The Monuments , one of cycling's classic one-day bike race. From inspirational adventures across the world, learning bike maintenance , or discovering nutrition for cycling . 

Even if you have one of the best road bikes , have absolute everything you need to go bike packing , and know all about the benefits of cycling , there's a brilliant cycling book out there just for you. 

We've just selected a handful of our favourite books here, but keep checking back as more are added all the time. 

Best Pro peloton cycling books

Full Gas by Peter Cossins

Specifications, reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Winner of The Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year 2019, Full Gas is a look inside the tactics of the professional peloton and the decisions made by directeurs sportifs during some of the most important races.

This is the perfect cycling book for anyone wanting to level up their understanding and knowledge of the sometimes confusing carnival of racing. 

While other books such as Wide Eyed and Legless tell the tale of the race, this book strips back the racing and explains why it's not just the strongest rider who can win on the day. 

Everything you wanted to know about bike racing from the tactics, breakaways, bluffing, highs and the lows, highlighting memorable moments in history when these have been deployed at their finest. 

Magic Spanner: The World of Cycling According to Carlton Kirby by Carlton Kirby

As someone who has commentated the biggest bike races in the world for quarter of a century, you can imagine there are a few tales to tell. 

The behind the scenes view of races is a easy reading alternative look at the top races, full of amusing and unbelievable stories. 

In classic Carlton style, you can wonder if he's at the same bike race as you, but does dish the dirt on his co-commentators and some of the less than expected moments to life in the caravan. 

Compared to the darker or harder behind the scenes look at bike racing like that found in Racing Through the Dark or Wide Eyed and Legless, this really is the antidote.

But I'm warning you now, if you're not a fan of his commentary, you probably won't be a huge fan of the book 

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at All Costs by Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton

Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

An open book style confession, that is considered by most of the top Pro Cycling journalists as the real truth behind some of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins. 

In the no holds bared telling of his story, Hamilton reveals all to Daniel Coyle in in turn captures the extreme detail in a compelling and easy to understand page turner. 

It gives the foundation for understanding why the likes of David Millar and Thomas Dekker fell in to the dark side of performance enhancing drugs, better than they could do themselves in their own autobiographies. 

Reading after the tale of Marco Pantaini will make for auditable sighs and how did nothing get learnt. Truth hurts, but that's not to say it should be avoided. 

It's an old story now, but still one of the best cycling books to read as modern day cycling. Although, be warned, if you're new to the sport, or a young whippersnapper, this can be depressing reading. 

Worth following it up with a motivational read of Where There's a Will by Emily Chappell or if you really need an easy slapstick routine then dive immediately in to Magic Spanner by Carlton Kirby

Wide-Eyed and Legless by Jeff Connor 

Wide-Eyed and Legless, Inside the Tour de France by Jeff Connor

This fast paced true story follows the first British team to enter the Tour de France, and makes you realise why Team Sky going on to win the race two decades later was such a big achievement. 

The behind the scenes look at team ANC Halfords was captured by an journalist Jeff Connor who was with the team for the toughest ride of their life. 

It's a who's who guide to the cycling industry, an understanding on cycling politics and an understanding of where many of today's commentators, team managers and performance coaches made their cycling careers. 

Unlike the likes of  The Secret Race or Magic Spanner, this book captures just three weeks in 1987, and deep dives in to the personalities and how they evolve over the highly pressurised and stressful challenge. While there's significant stage setting as to what was happening on each stage of the race, to set the scene each chapter, the the main fest is how the team survive the huge endurance event. There's also just enough backstory of each character to explain how they came to be part of ANC Halfords.  

This white knuckle ride has both laugh out loud and cringe moments when you hear how different races were, what was considered acceptable behaviour back then. 

What is clear is how much the world of the pro peloton has shifted in the interim years as ANC Halfords scrimp enough funding to pull a team together, with questionable road worthy equipment and an all hands on deck approach that sees the author becoming more and more involved, even playing important roles within the team to help out. 

Based on a British underdog team, it might not capture readers looking for a star studded read. But if you're after eye-opening fast paced true story, this is by far one of the best cycling books you will read.  

Riding in the Zone Rouge by Tom Isitt

The little know 1919 Circuit des Champs de Bataille that was held just six months after the Armistice, but before the official end of the first world war with the signing of the treaty of Versailles.

The story tells of the incomprehensible 2000km, 7day stage race around Northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg, April 1919. 

Based on extensive research, newspaper reports and official race documents, the story is interwoven with the author's own attempt to compete the route, although be warned, Tom Isitt is by far a better story teller than cyclist. 

Isitt has painstakingly captured the exacting details of locations, terrain, sights, noises and even smells from a time when the race was held, which can make for incredibly hard reading at the injustice of war. 

While you are taken on a journey back in time, you can find yourself having to pause,  zoom out from a mental map, to study a real one and refer back to riders and their positions as I struggled to mentally hold all the detail at times. It's worth noting that I also struggled with this when reading Wide-Eyed and Legless, so I can depend if you are good at retaining and juggling all the information.   

Isitt's own cycling attempts do leave a lot to be desired, and while some is amusing, lightening the desperately sad period in history, it can sometimes tip a little too far in to the Carton Kirby Magic Spanner arena of comedy. 

If you open the book having never heard of the race, you'll close it feeling incredibly educated on the first world war, cycling history, and knowing that you've never really had that hard a day on a bike. 

If you want to know really what the toughest bike race in the world is, it's without a doubt Circuit des Champs de Bataille. This is one of the most exceptional cycling books you will ever read.

Best Autobiography / Biography cycling books

Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar by David Millar

A first-person look inside the inner workings of the pro cycling scene in what we might call the dark age of the sport.

This is a story of David Millar starting out as a pro in France, high hopes and lots of pressure along with partying a bit too hard, led to him being pushed towards the dark road of doping.

Doping for money and glory to keep his status, Millar was arrested when it was discovered that he was using performance enhancing drugs. Five years on, Millar wrote this book and opened up about his dark days.

As an autobiography, and while it's an honest account of his actions , it's nothing like The Death of Marco Pantani biography, and highlights the differences between addition and performance enhancing drugs. 

That said the it's one of the best cycling books that gives the reader an insight in to why decisions were made, there's a lack of ownership and no real soul searching as to why his moral compass pointed him in the direction of doping. I was left feeling disappointed that the playing field is still, 16years later, not level, and a lot of young riders careers were/ and still are dashed because of it.  

It would be nice to see an update of how Millar has used his platform and given justice to all the silent voices that suffered as a result of his decisions, as the book still feels unfinished. 

One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels by Jonathan Vaughters

Former prorider and current EF Education-EasyPost Cycling manager, Jonathan Vaughters, writes about his career as a rider and how he went from a driven young rider to Tour de France stage winner, determined to make it big in Europe whatever the costs to his descent into doping.

Vaughters goes into detail about his career and what drove him to eventually come clean and give information to the USADA (US anti-doping), leading to the admission of doping from Lance Armstrong.

The second half of the book talks about his role as a team manager and the demands and pressures behind how to make a professional cycling team a success. It covers a lot of behind the scenes, almost picking up on where David Millar's book finishes with how the impact of early Team Sky, namely Dave Brailsford and Bradley  Wiggings, the impact on the rest of the peloton and fall outs of riders and team managers along the way. 

The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography by Matt Rendell

To any cycling fan Marco Pantani will still be considered on of the best riders the world has ever known. 

This is the best cycling book that tells the story of how Italy's most loved sporting greats excelled in winning races, being one of the only riders to challenge the now disgraced Lance Armstrong, and sadly met his end.

If you don't know this tragic story, then this really is a must read. Even if you know it but haven't read this book, then do as it gives such a detailed insight as to how it happened and why. Now updated with the 2014/15 investigation into his death.

A compassionate tale, which left me in bits as to how lonely he really was and how unforgiving addiction can be. Unlike the Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar or Thomas Dekker The Descent, which are tales of calculated risk, this isn't a story of just another doper. The a moving and sometimes difficult read of a vulnerable person who was let down multiple times. A hard read, but a must read.  

Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe

A factual biography of Eddy Merckx , arguably the greatest rider of all time, his early life and how he went on to dominated his rivals for 14 years as a professional cyclist.

This is the must have cycling book for anyone who loves the stats, as well as the highs and lows of his time in the pro peloton. 

Riding at what some consider the 'golden age' of cycling, he was surrounded by big personalities, unbelievable human endeavours and questionable performances of elite cyclists. 

Pre Pantani, but post the war years of cycling, which are captured in Riding in the Zone Rouge, this is another important read to fully understand how the top riders are considered superstars, and how much pressure there was to perform.   

Best adventure cycling books

Where There's a Will by Emily Chappell

From humble cycling courier to un-expected world class endurance athlete. Emily's love of being on two wheels has taken her further and pushed her harder than she ever dreamed possible.  

A gruelling race across Europe, completely unassisted, in the shortest time possible, left her with unfinished business after her first attempt ended prematurely with her waking up on her back in a field through sheer exhaustion.

Back a year later to take on the challenge again, this story tells of how she made it up mountain passes, cascaded down the other side, got 20 minutes kip outside a village, and gave her all battling against self-doubt, confusion, sleep deprivation and desperation.

Unlike Around the world in 80 days by Mark Beaumont, this is a more humble account of a journey that could just be that book to change your life (most likely how to quit the rat race and follow your calling).

A must read for anyone wanting to read a beautifully written account of how perseverance and following your heart is really all that matters. 

Around the world in 80 days by Mark Beaumont 

Around the world in 80 days by Mark Beaumont

It’s a record with such a nice ring to it that it almost feels obvious, just inevitable, that of course someone would circumnavigate the globe on a bike in just 80 days.

But when it’s broken down, the achievement becomes increasingly incomprehensible. First is the boldness and the uncharted territory – Mark beat the previous record by a whopping 44 days, it marked a complete paradigm shift in our conception of what’s humanly possible.

Then there’s the distance – very few of us could ride 240 miles in one day in the first place. Doing that distance week after week for the best part of two and a half months is on a complete other level.

But perhaps it’s the time that’s the most startling part of the achievement. Each day Mark would ride four sets of four hour blocks, making for a 16 hours of riding – not including any stops or breaks. It was a feat of mental fortitude just as much as physical.

How do you get funding for such a ride? How do you organise the logistics? Although the ride itself is staggering, in a way that was actually the most straightforward part of breaking the record. Around the world in 80 days lifts the veil on what it takes to organise as well as execute a world record

Best cycling nutrition, training and tech books

Start At The End by Dan Bigham 

Start At The End by Dan Bigham

 Dan Bigham made a name for himself leading an amatur Britsh track cycling team to competition at the highest level, beating multi-million-pound teams and winning multiple UCI Track World Cups.  

Currently, he’s riding for the UCI Continental team Ribble Weldtite and working for Ineos Grenadiers as a race engineer, helping the team’s riders improve their aerodynamic performance. 

Unlike other books to fall out of working with the Pro Peloton, such as the Magic Spanner by Carlton Kirby, this isn't a kiss and tell or just cycling specific. 

Through Start at the End, Dan uses his own experiences, as well as case studies from other sports and the world of business, to demonstrate how this approach of reverse engineering can be applied and help in any aspect of life.

Dan takes you through each stage of the process, from setting goals and accessing your tools to crystallising a plan and, ultimately, executing it. It’s full of anecdotes and details to keep an avid cyclist happy, whilst also being broad enough for a general audience.

The Cycling Chef by Alan Murchinson  

The Cycling Chef: Recipes for Performance and Pleasure by Alan Murchinson

 A well-balanced diet is fundamental to cycling performance. Without the right balance of carbs, protein and vitamins, along with fats and sugars – yes, those two are vitally important to have in the right quantities – your training and progression will be compromised. 

You could just eat by numbers, consuming the correct quantities of all those nutrients in a bland and unappetising ways. Or read this cookbook and you could combine them in ways to make your taste buds tingle and relish your meals whilst maintaining a balanced diet, although you might struggle to find alternative ingredients for dietary requirements. 

Alan Murchinson is a Michelin-starred chef and sports nutritionist, as well as a talented amateur athlete in his own right – winning becoming World Sprint Duathlon Champion in his age group in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In his book, The Cycling Chef, Murchinson provides recipe after recipe of delicious dishes which have been designed to hit all the right food groups in the correct proportions. The chicken sausages with spicy bean cassoulet and crispy polenta are a particular favourite, closely followed by the smoky roast red pepper, chorizo and quinoa soup. Many are quick to rustle up, but a handy key or code for the under 30minute recipes would be helpful.  

It's the cookbook that team Halfords-ANC, from the book Wide Eyed and Legless, could have done with at their first attempt of the Tour de France, over the 'grease and fat' they were accused of eating.  

Some big names have also been impressed such as Elinor Barker, multiple world champion and Olympic gold medallist, who’s said: “Alan has completely changed my perception of what an athlete's diet can look like.”

Also Alex Dowsett,  former World Hour Record Holder and national champion: “Alan's food is simple, yet tasty and powerful. He's been a key component for my training and racing.” 

Best cycling books and how to find them

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

Finding the best cycling books for you will depend on a whole host of requirements, from what subject you are interested in, to period in history, or even authors. 

The great news is that this is just a small list of some of the fantastic books about cycling out there, and we aim to keep this list as our favourite reads across a variety of categories.    

If you have a favourite book that isn't listed, please share the recommendation with us via our About Cycling Weekly get in touch page and we'll add it to our list of must reads and let you know if we too think it's one of the best page turners. 

What are the best cycling books?

Where do I start with my bike related library?

As mentioned above, this really depends on you as a reader and what your cycling interests are. 

If you are new to cycling, ensure you bookshelves contain at least one bike maintenance book, a demystifying racing book, Full Gas by Peter Cossin, would be my pick here, and a motivational read,  Where There's a Will by Emily Chappell for sure. I also would dive in to the history of bike riding, I recommend Riding Through the Zone Rouge by Tom Isitt as it's a race come history lesson that will stay with you long after you close the book. 

If you've got the basics already, make sure you invest in a few autobiography's or biographies. There's several I would struggle to pick from, but if I was pressed to select just one it would have to be  The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography by Matt Rendell. 

Where can I buy the best cycling book?

Will my local book shop or on-line store have them?

Most of our listed books are available at any decent book shop, although you will probably have to get a special order in for some. 

Kindle has a great selection of cycling books, which can make for a lighter load if you are a commuting reader, as some of the books can be a few hundred pages to carry round, although most are now available in paperback. 

How to make time to read

Where do I squeeze in time to read a book?

We all know the benefits of turning off the phone scrolling and taking time out to read, especially when it is one of the best cycling books. From better concentration to just mental relaxation, but finding time to read can feel like a privilege, and often a luxury over a necessary.  

Like any habit, it's a matter of repetition and little and often, but here's some quick tips to help you along the way:

1. Read before lights out. Stop the scroll and pick up the book, it will help you mentally adjust ready for sleeping. 

2. Wake up 15minutes earlier and read first thing in the morning. Some of the best cycling books can be thrilling, so not contusive to sleep. Inspiration reads can put a spring in your step or a tail wind on your back for the rest of the day. 

3. Always carry your book. This is where Kindles are great as the keep the bulk down. If you prefer the real deal, opt for a paperback version. 

4. Find a book buddy. Nothing more motivational to read than the threat of them revealing spoilers ahead of where you're up too. It also gives you chance to digest and work through the story line, especially if it's a thrilling, funny, or sad plot. 

5. If you can't read, then listen. I'm a big fan of audio books and can get through several while travelling, when it's a driving commute, or even when at home working through the household chores. 

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Hannah is Cycling Weekly’s longest-serving tech writer, having started with the magazine back in 2011. She has covered all things technical for both print and digital over multiple seasons representing CW at spring Classics, and Grand Tours and all races in between.

Hannah was a successful road and track racer herself, competing in UCI races all over Europe as well as in China, Pakistan and New Zealand.

For fun, she's ridden LEJOG unaided, a lap of Majorca in a day, won a 24-hour mountain bike race and tackled famous mountain passes in the French Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Himalayas. 

She lives just outside the Peak District National Park near Manchester UK with her partner, daughter and a small but beautifully formed bike collection. 

These are the items that you need to enjoy your riding and help keep you, your family and your bike safe

By Cycling Weekly Published 13 May 24

Demi Vollering has won eight times out of 12 opportunities in the Basque Country

By Adam Becket Published 13 May 24

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The 10 best cycling books

From tricyling for ladies to the dark side of the Tour… our top books about bikes

1 | The Rider

Tim Krabbé (1978; English translation 2002)

This fictional account of a professional bicycle race by the Dutch journalist, author and former racing cyclist, is a cult classic. Finely written and full of rhetorical flourishes, it captures the peculiar dynamic of the peloton beautifully, from the point of view of one rider. At just 150 pages, it is a book you simply have to put down, in order to savour it. It is also a meditation on pain, for armchair enthusiasts who don’t fancy it much themselves. For bike-racing fans, it’s essential reading.

2 | Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle

Dervla Murphy (1965)

A cycle touring classic, the best kind of adventure story and a clarion call to “travel for travel’s sake”. I read it in the late 1990s, working in London: six months later, I bought a bespoke steel bicycle, abandoned my career and set off to pedal around the world. Reading it, I realised that you don’t need a wealth of knowledge and experience to embark on a journey like this. If you have a flair for getting on with people, then you’re ready to leave now. Murphy’s writing is uplifting, like riding through dawn on a summer’s day.

3 | Richard’s Bicycle Book

Richard Ballantine (1972; out of print)

Part manual, part manifesto, full of humour, common sense and practical advice, this instantly became a bible to the new wave of folk who took to two wheels during the oil crisis in the early 70s. For the next two decades, it was the only mass market cycling book: it’s been reprinted numerous times, selling more than a million copies through various iterations. The manual part of the book is irrelevant now, because the bicycle has changed so much. However, the manifesto part remains fresh: the author’s passion for the machine and his avowal that cyclists own the road as much as motorists, remain as pertinent as ever.

4 | Bicycle: The History

David V Herlihy (2004)

For much of the 20th century, the history of the bicycle was muddied by the proprietary claims and myths of competing industrial nations: Germany, France, England, Italy, the US and even Scotland all asserted they had invented the machine. Herlihy brings academic rigour and clarity to the development of the steel horse. It is a fantastic tale – of ingenuity, eccentric inventors, technological impasses, lost fortunes and luck, which culminates in the first modern bicycle. The prose can be a little dry but the illustrations are excellent.

5 | The Escape Artist: Life from the Saddle

Matt Seaton (2002)

An autobiographical tale about one man’s obsession with amateur bike-racing: fine-tuning the machine, shaving the legs, the physical and emotional fellowship of riding with friends, the early-morning training rides, the etiquette of the peloton and the suffering are all here. So far, so familiar. The real suffering, however, emerges in the second, interwoven tale – of the death of Seaton’s wife, the journalist Ruth Picardie, from breast cancer, aged 33, two years after the birth of their twins. Somehow Seaton avoids being mawkish. It’s an elegantly written, heartbreaking story about growing up.

6 | Put Me Back On My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson

William Fotheringham (2002)

Guardian writer Fotheringham has written several good biographies of racing cyclists but this one stands out, not least because Tom Simpson was such a mercurial character . A lionhearted anti-hero, Simpson collapsed and died on Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France in 1967, with amphetamines and cognac in his blood. He was an Olympic medallist, a world champion, an obsessive professional and the first Briton to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Thus, he helped turn an insular European race into a global phenomenon. Fotheringham sympathetically unravels the most enigmatic figure British cycling has produced.

7 | Cycling

Viscount Bury and G Lacy Hillier (1887; out of print)

In elegant prose, this book records the bicycle on the cusp of the first golden age. There are chapters on dress (“Cashmere neck handkerchiefs are to be preferred … for night riding in the winter”), clubs, touring and “Tricycling for Ladies”. At the time of publication, cycling was still largely the exclusive pastime of athletic, wealthy males; by 1895, the bicycle was the most popular form of transport on the planet. The simple machine had changed society in innumerable ways for ever.

8 | The Third Policeman

Flann O’Brien (pub posthumously, 1967)

A satirical, absurdist murder mystery by an overlooked giant of 20th-century Irish literature. At the heart of this offbeat tale is the unrequited love affair between a man and a bicycle. If that’s not bizarre enough, Sergeant Pluck’s “Atomic Theory” – that prolonged contact with a bicycle saddle can result in “molecular exchange” – leads him to conclude: “You would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who are nearly half people and half bicycle.”

9 | French Revolutions

Tim Moore (2001)

It’s a simple premise – ride the route of the Tour de France before the annual race takes place – but a difficult one to pull off. Fortunately, Moore is explosively funny and a terrific storyteller. As Moore was a novice cyclist, there is plenty of material on boils, the application of Savlon and the ideal daily alcohol consumption for optimum performance. Amid the hilarity, though, he weaves in some of the more infamous and bizarre moments in Tour history, making it a joyful introduction to the greatest bike race of them all.

10 | A Rough Ride

Paul Kimmage (1990)

There are several good books – by the likes of Matt Rendell, David Millar and David Walsh – that investigate drugs in professional bike racing, but Kimmage’s visceral polemic was the first to reveal that doping was far more widespread than claimed. I read it spellbound. Of course, much worse was to befall the sport and the organisation that governs it in succeeding years, but Kimmage, an Irish ex-pro cyclist turned journalist, bravely broke the law of omerta in the peloton: he spoke out about the dark heart of European bike racing for the first time.

Rob Penn is the author of The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees and It’s All About the Bike

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The Tour de France, Updated with a New Preface: A Cultural History Paperback – April 7, 2008

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• Print length 406 pages
• Language English
• Publisher University of California Press
• Publication date April 7, 2008
• Dimensions 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 0520256301
• ISBN-13 978-0520256309
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; First Edition (April 7, 2008)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 406 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520256301
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520256309
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• #2,002 in Cycling (Books)
• #3,970 in Sports History (Books)
• #5,047 in French History (Books)

About the author

Christopher s. thompson.

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