The first Tour de France in 1903 was a colourful affair full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating. Its riders included characters like Maurice Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman, said to have been swapped for a round of cheese by his parents in order to smuggle him into France to clean chimneys as a teenager, Hippolyte Aucouturier with his trademark handlebar moustache, and amateurs like Jean Dargassies, a blacksmith who had never raced before. Would this ramshackle pack of cyclists draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes? Surprisingly it did, and, all thanks to a marketing ruse dreamed up to revive struggling newspaper L'Auto, cycling would never be the same again. Peter Cossins takes us through the inaugural Tour de France, painting a nuanced portrait of France in the early 1900s, to see where the greatest sporting event of all began.

In the spring of 2015, Mark Beaumont set out from the bustling heart of Cairo on his latest world record attempt - solo, the length of Africa, intending to ride to Cape Town in under 50 days. Seven years since he smashed the world record for cycling round the world, this would be his toughest trip yet. And he would set a new mark that would simply break the limits of endurance.

Despite illness, mechanical faults, attempted robbery and stone-throwing children, as well as dehydration in the deserts and unprecedented levels of exhaustion, Mark completed the journey in just 41 days, 10 hours and 22 minutes, after cycling 6,762 miles, spending 439 hours in the saddle (sometimes up to 16 hours a day) and climbing 190,355 feet through 8 countries. It was an astonishing journey, and one that will fascinate and grip the reader.

From the obvious dangers of Egypt, Sudan and Kenya, over the unpaved, muddy, mountainous roads of Ethiopia, through the beautiful grasslands of Tanzania and Zambia, to riding at night in Botswana in the company of elephants and giraffes, Mark brings Africa to life in all its complex glory, friendship and curiosity, while inspiring us all to question the bounds of what is possible.

Keen to get out there and get fit on your mountain bike but you lack the time or motivation?

Seasoned journalists & MTB riders Chris and Tim Whitfield will help you turn your weekend-warrior dreams into reality with tips on cool trails, events and advice on everything from equipment and safety to MTB lingo and fashion.

This fun handbook – packed with maps and tips – is your indispensable guide to getting out into the fresh air and to get ON YOUR BIKE …

Join the world’s biggest bike race on its 40-year journey from the Argus Tour to the Cape Town Cycle Tour.

312 pages with over 1000 iconic images, astonishing facts, all the winners, personal memories and the in-depth tale of each of the 39 tours to date.

Each year, from 1978, is featured as a separate chapter with:

• Highlights & facts over the years
• Factoid boxes throughout
• A graphic (for each year) showing the finish line comparisons of record holders & finishing times
• Overall finishing statistics comparison graphs since 1978
• The date, the distance & main category winners listed for each year since 1978
• Location map of the route (showing changes since 1978)
• Key stats for each year
• Overview of sponsors
• Key rider personalities
• Winner’s photos
• Images reflecting riders & supporters since 1978
• Bike, clothing, gear & technology changes over the years
• Images of the medals, logos & awards
• Key celebrities, personalities & organisers over the years
• Race number graphics & badges
• Over 1000 photographs from the archives featuring:
• Spectators
• Personalities
• Historic moments
• Interviews with iconic personalities & their personal memories
• Historic newspaper clippings
• “The year that was” box with non-cycling events for each year

If you love cycling and want to learn more about this sport, then The South African Bike Book & Events Guide is for you.

Cycling is a complex sport and if you want to improve your abilities, whether it is just to make it to the top of your nearest hill without stopping, or whether to win a champion race, cycling takes dedication and sacrifice. In this book we give you everything you need to equip yourself to become the best cyclist you can be. The book will introduce you to the origins of the humble bicycle, as well as key safety and cycling regulations and tips on staying alive.

As a cyclist knowing your equipment and the anatomy of your bike is important. This book gives you all the information you require on how to buy the correct bike, the variety of bikes on the market, how the various options differ, and how many different ones you need to covet, rather than need. Other chapters include the gear (kitting yourself out properly), the workshop (how to care for your bike), set-up and skills (basic set-up, road skills and MTB skills) as well as training and nutrition (the basics, recovery, injury and illness). The last chapter focuses on top events highlighting the top 5 road races and MTB races and other popular cycle races, uniquely African races, DIY and the ultras.

Of course once you have equipped yourself with this knowledge we give you a fantastic ride and training logbook, because practice makes perfect.

So get your ride on, with the ultimate South Africa Bike Book & Events Guide today!

With a foreword by Eddy Merckx The world of professional cycling is fraught with fierce competition, fervent dedication and unerring ambition, and only a handful of competitors reach iconic status. Among them is Sir Bradley Wiggins - a man uniquely placed to reflect on the history of this remarkable sport and its unforgettable titans. In Icons, Wiggins takes the reader on an extraordinarily intimate journey through the sport, presenting key pieces from his never-before-seen collection of memorabilia. Over the course of his illustrious career, he amassed hundreds of items - often gifts from its greatest and most controversial figures. Each reflects an icon, a race or a moment that fundamentally influenced Wiggins on both a personal and professional level. By exploring the lives and achievements of 21 of the sport's key figures - among them Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain and Tom Simpson - Wiggins sheds new light on what professional cycling demands of its best competitors. Icons lauds their triumphs, elucidates their demons and sheds light on the philosophy and psychology that comprise the unique mindset of a cycling champion.

The Official Tour de France Maintenance Book goes exclusively behind the scenes with the finest professional cycling mechanics during the most gruelling and high-pressure bike race in the world. Working at the cutting edge of bicycle technology, Tour mechanics expertly maintain high performance race bikes every day throughout the Tour. The highlight, for many fans, is watching the bikes being prepared before a stage and serviced after it. The reader is put in the fans' shoes, with exclusive insights and images from the life of a Tour mechanic, with in-race stories and technical advice. Practical sections in each chapter show the home mechanic how to perform essential maintenance tasks and personalise their own bicycles to Tour de France standards. Even if bikes are serviced by shop mechanics, vital checks and regular adjustments are covered in these pages and, to make a bike stand out, there are professional tricks of the trade as well as the small but telling detailing jobs to enhance the bike's looks. Another feature of The Official Tour de France Maintenance Book focuses on the growing interest in classic racing machines, which are collected, ridden and displayed in "Eroica" festivals, events celebrating the heroic age of cycling. These, of course, include Tour de France bikes from the past 75 years and there are features on these classic bikes, with maintenance tips using traditional tools and techniques.

For more than twenty years, Tony Hawks has been mistaken for Tony Hawk, the American skateboarder. Even though it is abundantly clear on his website that he is an English comedian and author, people still write to him asking the best way to do a kickflip or land a melon. One mischievous day he started writing back in a pompous tone, goading his correspondents for their spelling mistakes and poor grammar, while offering bogus or downright silly advice on how to improve their skateboarding. Featuring entries on parents' pain, disappointment, underachievers, Quorn and the Vatican, this is his A to Z guide to the world of skateboarding, as seen through the eyes of someone who knows absolutely nothing about it.

It is easy to see bicycles as commonplace machines, but at the end of the nineteenth-century there was no other piece of technology which attracted the same level of excitement, discussion or controversy. Significant societal shifts followed the invention of the modern bicycle and with cycling's ever-increasing popularity there has never been a better time to tell this story. Revolution delves into the social history of cycling in 1890s Britain while exploring international parallels that existed in countries such as the US, France and Australia. Drawing on a range of sources from cycling club journals to the writings of H.G. Wells, the book illuminates the major impact the bicycle had on the day-to-day lives of people across the social spectrum with millions experiencing a cheap and personalised means of transport for the first time. Particularly for women it was known as the great emancipator from crib, kitchen and convention. Affordable to the working class, cycling dramatically increased the number of potential marriage partners, bridging the gaps between villages, to the extent that leading biologist Steve Jones has ranked the invention of the bicycle as the most important event in recent human evolution. From cycling as a source of fashion and socialising in sporting clubs, to travel around the British countryside, to its importance for widening the gene pool and its role in the women's liberation movement Revolution presents the bicycle as a marvel of modern technology that transformed Britain and the world over.

In ETAPE, critically acclaimed author Richard Moore will take readers on a virtual Tour de France, with each chapter focusing on a single rider in a single stage that came to define the Tour's history. In Etape, critically acclaimed author Richard Moore tells the stories behind some of the defining stages in the Tour de France's history through the eyes of the protagonists: the heroes and villains, stars and journeymen. Featuring exclusive new interviews with Mark Cavendish, Lance Armstrong, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, David Millar, Chris Boardman and many other Tour riders past and present, Etape spans six decades in conveying the mystery, beauty and madness of the world's greatest bike race. The book includes Boardman's famous debut in 1994, Cavendish's best and worst stages, an emotionally charged win for Armstrong in Limoges in 1995 and his dramatic, drug-fuelled victory eight years later at Luz Ardiden, as well as iconic stages featuring giants of the sport: Merckx's toughest Tour, Hinault's journey through hell, LeMond's return from near-death, and the tragic Marco Pantani's domination of the most controversial race in Tour history, among others. From the Alps to the Pyrenees, the sun-soaked plains of the midi to the rain-lashed cobbles of the north, Etape takes the reader on a virtual Tour. Along the way, in shedding new light on familiar events, unravelling mysteries and exploring untold stories, it confirms the Tour de France as unrivalled in its creation of myths and legends, and as a stage for courage, scandal, skill, and drama.

From 2015 to 2017, Peter Sagan achieved the seemingly impossible: he won three road race World Championships in a row, ensuring his entry into the history books as one of the greatest riders of all time.

But to look at Peter’s record in isolation is to tell only a fraction of his story, because Peter doesn’t just win: he entertains. Every moment in the saddle is an opportunity to express his personality, and nobody else has succeeded in making elite cycling look so much fun. From no-hands wheelies on the slopes of Mont Ventoux to press conference mischief with clamouring journalists, Peter exudes a passion for the sport and a lovable desire to bring smiles to the faces of his fans.

So, for the very first time, you will have the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes of Peter’s world. You will discover the gruelling training programmes necessary for success, and how Peter copes with the pressure of high expectation. You will feel that sense of elation when crossing the line ahead of the pack, and moments of desperation, like in 2017 when Peter realised he wouldn’t be allowed to challenge for his sixth Tour de France green jersey. But what better tonic than to ensure a third year in rainbow – an achievement which may never be repeated again.

This is in the series of pocket sized, folded maps to the National Cycle Network which include clearly mapped on-road and traffic-free paths, easy to read contours and detailed town insets. Published by Sustrans. 1:110,000 scale; folded 155mm x 99mm; flat 792mm x 630mm.Belfast, Down & Armagh Cycle Map (49). Including Loughshore Trail, Lagan & Lough Cycle Way, Newry Canal Towpath and 5 individual day rides.

This is in the series of pocket sized, folded maps to the National Cycle Network which include clearly mapped on-road and traffic-free paths, easy to read contours and detailed town insets. Published by Sustrans. 1:110,000 scale; folded 155mm x 99mm; flat 792mm x 630mm.Derry ~ Londonderry & The North West Cycle Map (51). Including Foyle Valley Cycle Route, Limavady Borough, Faughan Valley Cycleway and 5 individual day rides.

How did Great Britain conquer the Tour de France?

In 2012 Bradley Wiggins made history by becoming the first Briton ever to win the Tour de France. Since that moment the UK has been living through the golden era in the world's greatest bike race, with four overall titles for Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas winning for Wales in 2018, and Manxman Mark Cavendish proving the race's most prolific sprinter.

In Roule Britannia, number one bestselling author William Fotheringham, charts British cycling's rise to the top and provides us with the definitive account of the nation’s Tour de France achievements through exclusive interviews with and profiles of cycling champions - from the early days of Brian Robinson to Bradley Wiggins's dominant ride via Tom Simpson, Robert Millar, Chris Boardman and many others, Roule Britannia celebrates a nation's love affair with the greatest race of all.

‘Brilliant...tells each story with passion and sensitivity’ Sunday Times

This training book is the perfect introduction to the Olympic Cycling events and will prove an indispensable guide for both the keen beginner and club cyclist. Written by celebrated cycling journalist Tim Clifford and illustrated with over 50 specially commissioned diagrams, this official book gives an overview of each Cycling event and covers training safety, tactics and techniques, and standards of performance to aim for. Whether you are a beginner who simply wants to try a new sport or a budding Olympian who dreams of one day winning a gold medal, this concise and easy-to-use book will take you to the next level.

The true story of the toughest bicycle race ever staged, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields) The Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields) was held in 1919, less than six months after the end of the First World War. It covered 2,000 kilometres and was raced in appalling conditions across the battlefields of the Western Front, otherwise known as the Zone Rouge. The race was so tough that only 21 riders finished, and it was never staged again. With one of the most demanding routes ever to feature in a bicycle race, and plagued by appalling weather conditions, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille was beyond gruelling, but today its extraordinary story is largely forgotten. Many of the riders came to the event straight from the army and had to ride 18-hour stages through sleet and snow across the battlefields on which they had fought, and lost friends and family, only a few months before. But in addition to the hellish conditions there were moments of high comedy, even farce. The rediscovered story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille is an epic tale of human endurance, suffering and triumph over extreme adversity.

`They're all scared. Everybody's afraid' - Eddy Merckx `Nothing compares to the Ventoux' - Lance Armstrong 'Heart-stirring and jaw-dropping in equal measure' - Tim Moore 'A really excellent book' - Richard Williams The French call Ventoux `the killer mountain' and in 1967 it claimed its most famous victim, as former world champion Tom Simpson died near the summit during that year's Tour de France. The terrible ascent of Ventoux's south side encapsulates both the brutality and beauty of this cruel sport, but also highlights cycling's ongoing battle to distance itself from its demons. Yet it was the legendary and extreme climb of Mont Ventoux that first inspired award-winning author Jeremy Whittle's love of cycling, so much so that he bought a house in its shadows. Ventoux is his memoir to the Giant of Provence in which he reveals the little-known history of the Ventoux, and tells the story of a monstrous climb that has driven riders to near-hysteria and also to wild extremes of doping. It has provided the spectacular backdrop to some of cycling's most titanic contests, exposing the true character of those who take on the challenge. Through a series of revealing conversations with Lance Armstrong, Dave Brailsford, Alastair Campbell, Nicole Cooke, Tyler Hamilton, Eddy Merckx, Simpson's daughter, Joanne, and many others, Whittle details the poignancy of bitter memories, flawed obsessions and ruthless ambition that have made the Ventoux so feared and so infamous. 'A terrific book' - Matt Dickinson 'An intense hit. A must read' - Ned Boulting 'Highly recommend Jeremy Whittle's Ventoux - a fascinating and expert insight into the mountain and into the current state of pro racing' Peter Cossins

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD* The Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it flows 800 miles from the social democratic playground of the Netherlands, through the industrial and political powerhouses of Germany and France, to the wealthy mountain fortresses of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. For five years, Ben Coates lived alongside a major channel of the river in Rotterdam, crossing it daily, swimming and sailing in its tributaries. In The Rhine, he sets out by bicycle from the Netherlands where it enters the North Sea, following it through Germany, France and Liechtenstein, to its source in the icy Alps. He explores the impact that the Rhine has had on European culture and history and finds out how influences have flowed along and across the river, shaping the people who live alongside it. Blending travelogue and offbeat history, The Rhine tells the fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent.

In the tradition of The Boys in the Boat and Seabiscuit, a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking but forgotten figure-the remarkable Major Taylor, the black man who broke racial barriers by becoming the world's fastest and most famous bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era. In the 1890s, the nation's promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws still separated blacks from whites, and the excesses of the Gilded Age created an elite upper class. Amidst this world arrived Major Taylor, a young black man who wanted to compete in the nation's most popular and mostly white man's sport, cycling. Birdie Munger, a white cyclist who once was the world's fastest man, declared that he could help turn the young black athlete into a champion. Twelve years before boxer Jack Johnson and fifty years before baseball player Jackie Robinson, Taylor faced racism at nearly every turn-especially by whites who feared he would disprove their stereotypes of blacks. In The World's Fastest Man, years in the writing, investigative journalist Michael Kranish reveals new information about Major Taylor based on a rare interview with his daughter and other never-before-uncovered details from Taylor's life. Kranish shows how Taylor indeed became a world champion, traveled the world, was the toast of Paris, and was one of the most chronicled black men of his day. From a moment in time just before the arrival of the automobile when bicycles were king, the populace was booming with immigrants, and enormous societal changes were about to take place, The World's Fastest Man shines a light on a dramatic moment in American history-the gateway to the twentieth century.

This is in the series of pocket sized, folded maps to the National Cycle Network which include clearly mapped on-road and traffic-free paths, easy to read contours and detailed town insets. Published by Sustrans. 1:110,000 scale; folded 155mm x 99mm; flat 792mm x 630mm.The Causeway Coast & Glens Cycle Map (52). Including Causeway Coast Cycle Route, Lower Bann Cycleway, Loughshore Trail, ecos Cycle Trail and 5 individual day rides.

A fly-on-the-wall account of the greatest drama in modern sporting history by the New York Times cycling correspondent. As Lance Armstrong's precipitous fall from grace continues, New York Times sports reporter Juliet Macur takes the reader behind the scenes to bring to life the astonishing twists and turns of the scandal that has rocked the world of cycling. With unprecedented access to the key players in the drama - from Armstrong's fellow cyclists and top cycling officials to doctors, trainers and wives - Cycle of Lies reveals how Armstrong built a fortress of people around him to protect his image and upend the lives of anybody who stood in his way. As America's fallen idol faces potential perjury charges, Cycle of Lies widens the focus to expose corruption at all levels of the sport in a thrilling, page-turning work of contemporary narrative history.

The inspirational inside story from the 2018 Tour de France and Sports Personality of the Year winner "This year G was the strongest rider, and he finally had Lady Luck on his side. An unstoppable combination" Chris Froome "I understood what Geraint's win meant: for him, for me, for the team, and for Wales, too" Dave Brailsford "Wow!" Arsene Wenger For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his team-mates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school on summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This July, across twenty-one stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own. With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport. Not only can nice guys come first - they can win the biggest prize of all.

This guide describes 23 day routes, graded by a combination of distance, climb and overall gradient, all suitable for road bikes and illustrated by detailed maps and profiles. In addition a six-stage tour takes in all the highlights, including Grassington, Leyburn, Hawes, Kirkby Stephen, Ingleton and Settle. And for those who really want to test themselves, the route of the Stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de France, a 206km loop from Leeds to Harrogate, is also included, with an option to close the loop without adding many extra miles. Appendices include a route summary table to help you choose your route, lots of information about facilities for cyclists along the routes, taking bikes on public transport and basic bike maintenance. The Vuelta a Dales takes in the best dales, passes and viewpoints as it passes through Grassington, Leyburn, Hawes, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh, Ingleton and Settle. The Yorkshire Dales have always welcomed visitors who enjoy the views. For cyclists, the national park and the areas overlapping its boundaries provide a splendid mix of varied scenic landscapes, an extensive network of roads and peaceful lanes and many cycle-friendly cafes and tea shops. With almost every turn revealing yet another stunning view, the Dales are an ideal area to explore by bike.