“Boy Racer” by Mark Cavendish steps behind the scenes of the Tour de France. It unmasks the exotic, contradictory, hysterical and brutal world of professional cycling from the compellingly candid viewpoint of someone right in the thick of it.
Written off as ‘fat’ and ‘useless’ in his youth, Cavendish is now cycling’s brightest star.
His extraordinary six stage-wins at this year’s Tour proved him Britain’s best ever cyclist.
Some have called him cocky, but to anyone who doesn’t like his style, Mark will simply shrug his shoulders and reply, ‘I know I’m good. There’s no point lying about it.’
Peers say that they have never seen anyone with Cavendish’s hunger for success and while this fearlessness — both in the saddle and on the record — has at times led to controversy, it has also earned him the respect of ever-more fans.
“In: Boy Racer we follow him through through the mayhem of the Tour de France in a page-turning journey of pure exhilaration” – well, that’s the publisher’s view.
It’s an enjoyable read, most interesting when Mark is discussing his teammates and rivals, sometimes they’re the same thing, and he’s not been afraid to potentially piss some people off, not that he’ll be particularly bothered about that.
Pick something else from the Bookshelf.
